okay, i got into a car accident a little while ago and had a lawyer who told me i could fire him at any time, now he is coming at me saying i owe him 1,100 dollars. i fired him because this happened in march and in oct i still had not heard back from him, i left message after message. when i told him he was fired he hung up in my face and now saying i owe him... what exactly can i do to protect myself? and do i have to pay him?

Fr_Chuck

Yes, you can fire an attorney at any time, but you will owe them for the billiable hours they have worked.

I will assume he was working on a percentage before. And this was only alittle more than 6 months, while he should have been getting back to you, many of these cases can take a few years if the other side is not willing to merely pay a settlement

mr.yet

Ask him for a itemize statement of charges, if you dont agree with some or all dispute his bill.

starsbooty

what is an itemized statement of charges? (a list of all the things he did)?and to dispute his bill i would have to go to court?

J_9

I am assuming that this lawyer was not working on a contingency fee basis. That means that he only collects money if you win your case, if you lose then he gets nothing.

That said: an itemized bill would have to include his retainer, if you did not pay one, every phone call that he made on the behalf of you and your case, as well as every letter that was written. It will be a list of every minute that he spent working on your case. Attorneys usually bill for every minute while working on a case, each firm has their own time allotments for which they bill. One that I worked for billed for everything over 10 minutes.

About going to court if you dispute the bill, I am not entirely sure.

ScottGem

What else would an itemized statement of charges be. make sure he tells not just how many billable hours he worked, but what he did during those hours.

mr.yet

Yo would dispute the charges with the attorney, the itemized bill would be for you to verify what he did or didn't do.

J_9

An itemized statement can also include work done by a paralegal or secretary.

It can also include court fees cuch as filing fees, etc., as well as discovery costs, which would include, but are not limited to copies of any documents that needed to be subpoenaed (along with some subpoena fees sometimes). An attorney can even bill the client for every copy of a letter that is sent out to multiple parties, postage, etc. As well as travel time, hotel fees if necessary to travel out of town. The list can be endless and varies according to the law firm as well as the individual case.

Typically an attorney fronts all the money and then bills the client for reimbursement.

The info here is a little vague, so it is really hard for me to answer this one.

J_9

No one had an attitude here starsbooty, we are trying to help you figure out if you are being taken or if the bill is legitimate.

If you can give more info, we can help you more.

Was the attorney on a contingent fee or was he on retainer? Etc.

starsbooty

well he didnt send me any paper work until i fired him, the paper work was all copies from the dr. i already have. also there was papers from the insurance co. dated after i fired him. he is a real a hole. everytime i try to call him now to ask him about this he says we have nothing further to discuss and hangs up in my face. i am going to call again an request the itemized statement of charges, do you think there is anything else i may need to ask for, seeing that he sent me everything i already had im not sure what to do.

i didnt pay him first, i dont know what retainer and contiguent means, this was my first time ever dealing with a lawyer, sorry im a little frustrated with this whole situation.

n i was talking to scottgem because he said What else would an itemized statement of charges be. i dont know what none of these legal terms and other stuff means.