What Do You Mean by “Costs” and “Fees”?
When we refer to fees, we are usually talking about what we charge you for our time, either time billed by the attorney or time billed by the staff. When it is appropriate, we perform tasks using the lower rate of staff. There are some questions and tasks that must be addressed by the attorney, but others are best handled by staff, not only for efficiency but to save you money.
Costs are expenses paid to third parties, such as court reporters, mediators, CPAs, translators, or private investigators. Depending on what the cost is, we may ask you to pay the cost directly or we may request that you place the funds in our trust account so we may pay the third-party.
Court filing fees are charged in every single case. Except in cases of indigency, the court system charges a fee to anyone who files a lawsuit, including a lawsuit for divorce, child custody and support, alimony or property division. We typically pay these from money the client has placed in his or her account.
Billing is usually hourly, meaning all work performed on your case is billed at the hourly rate. We charge the same hourly rate for all work, including preparing documents, meeting with a client, court preparation and appearance, making phone calls or answering e-mails. We usually bill for work performed in your case on a monthly basis.
If there is an extended period of inactivity in your case, or if there is only a small amount of billing during that period, you may not receive a billing statement. At the start of your case, we request an “advance” of money, which means we place funds in your account, and bill against it when we perform work. When the advance is depleted, we will request you to replenish the funds in your account. If you have any questions about your billing statement, please contact us immediately.
An exception to the hourly billing is a claim for an absolute divorce, which we file for a flat fee that includes the filing fee, one attempt to serve the defendant, and our court appearance for you.
