[Ask16]

My husband retained a lawyer several years ago for a court case. At that time, we signed a service retainer $5000 up front and $100/hr for services beyond 50 hrs. The case was ruled on and, since that time, my husband & I have made sure to file all paperwork with the court accurately and in a timely manner. 3+ years later the courts have repeatedly misfiled paperwork for the case. Once it is brought to the courts attention, they look through their paperwork and go , oops our mistake. After the latest incident from the court we contacted our lawyer to find out what we needed to do to make sure the court records are accurate. After multiple attempts to contact our lawyer for over a month he had the audacity to send us a bill for services we had not requested. In addition, he charged $200/hr. When we brought up that it was our understanding that proper filing of the case we had retained him for was covered under our retainer for his services he got mad. He stated that he wouldn't make money if he was held to the terms of the retainer. My questions are these, 1) can he bill us for those services? (again he was presumptuous in providing the services, we did not request them). 2) can the services he charged us for be charged at the higher rate of $200/hr if we did not sign anything new to retain his services? Thanks, any advice would be great, when we questioned the bill the lawyer got extremely mad and threatened to send the bill directly to collections.

[excon]

After the latest incident from the court we contacted our lawyer to find out what we needed to do to make sure the court records are accurate. After multiple attempts to contact our lawyer for over a month he had the audacity to send us a bill for services we had not requested. In addition, he charged $200/hr.

Hello A:

I need some clarity here. You say you ATTEMPTED to contact him, meaning that you did NOT contact him, meaning that you did NOT hire him for additional work, meaning that you do NOT owe additional money...

However, lawyers usually don't bill simply because there's a message on their voicemail. So, he either DID more work for you or he didn't... Please clarify.

excon

[AK lawyer]

... You say you ATTEMPTED to contact him, meaning that you did NOT contact him, meaning that ...

Actually, OP says that they "we contacted our lawyer". This suggests that they first made contact with him, somehow communicated their frustration with the court's misfiling errors, and then, when they attempted to contact with him some more, were unsuccessful for a few times. In other words, the lawyer proceeded to do work in response to the initial successful contact.

$100/ hour is extremely low for an attorney presently. Did the retainer agreement not provide for upward adjustments to the hourly rate? If not, and the initially agreed work was complete, perhaps the lawyer feels that the additional work was outside of the scope of the original agreement. I don't know how he justifies it. Clearly saying that " he wouldn't make money if he was held to the terms of the retainer" is not justification for a failure to hold to the terms of the agreement.

... he was presumptuous in providing the services, we did not request them ...

Why do you contact him then? You say "to find out what we needed to do to make sure the court records are accurate." Is it possible that you were not clear and that he reasonably understood that you were asking him to actually do something about it?

... The case was ruled on and, since that time, my husband & I have made sure to file all paperwork with the court accurately and in a timely manner. 3+ years later the courts have repeatedly misfiled paperwork ...

It's not clear, but it appears that you may be blaming the lawyer for the court's misfiling things. It doesn't appear fair to blame the lawyer for these complications, particularly when, evidently, his representation had come to an end.

[Fr_Chuck]

It sounds like "several years ago" they were using this attorney, but since they also stated that they have been "filing" the papers that they stopped using his service at some point over the last several years.

So when you contacted him again about some legal issue, yes, he does not need a written agreement to work for you, a verbal permission, And yes now that he is being "re-hired" he can change the current rate for his service.
And 200 dollars a hour is not unusual for attorney fees today.

[AK lawyer]

... yes, [since he represented them in the past] he does not need a written agreement to work for you, a verbal permission, And yes now that he is being "re-hired" he can change the current rate for his service. ....

I have to disagree. If in fact California requires a written agreement, the whole point of such an agreement is so that the scope of work and rate of compensation are clear. To charge an increased rate w/o written authorization would, seemingly, be contrary to that policy.

I see nothing in the California Rules of Professional Conduct which requires a written fee agreement. However such a requirement may possibly be found elsewhere.

[JudyKayTee]

I'm thinking over the $100 an hour part - I don't know ANY Attorney who will work for $100 an hour.

How long ago was this?

[AK lawyer]

I'm thinking over the $100 an hour part - I don't know ANY Attorney who will work for $100 an hour.

Well, there is one. ;)

Times are tough.

[AK lawyer]

There is a requirement for written attorney contracts in California:

6147. (a) An attorney who contracts to represent a client on a
contingency fee basis shall, at the time the contract is entered
into, provide a duplicate copy of the contract, signed by both the
attorney and the client, or the client's guardian or representative,
to the plaintiff, or to the client's guardian or representative. The
contract shall be in writing and shall include
...

6148. (a) In any case not coming within Section 6147 in which it is
reasonably foreseeable that total expense to a client, including
attorney fees, will exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), the
contract for services in the case shall be in writing.
...

CA Codes (bpc:6146-6149.5)

[Ask16]

Yes we did speak to the lawyer for clarification of the judges original ruling in the case. We did not request any new work to be done. The bill we received is for services we never requested at rates we never agreed to. We still have not received the information we originally requested. Because the information we requested pertained directly to the original case findings, if nothing else it was our understanding we were within the scope of the retainer for the lawyers services. If the new services the lawyer is charging us for were outside the original contract, should we have been notified and so we could consent to the new services and agree to the new rates?

[excon]

should we have been notified and so we could consent to the new services and agree to the new rates?

Hello again, A:

You're not going to get a more definitive answer than you've gotten here already... I know you've tried to lay out the facts as they occurred, but I'm sure the lawyer has his own set of facts... Ultimately, if you want to find out who is right, let him sue, and some judge will tell ONE of you that you were right. It certainly COULD be you.

If you don't want to risk it, pay the bill.

excon

[Fr_Chuck]

If he did work for you that you did not request, and do not want him to do any more work for you, write him a letter stating this to the attorney

[ScottGem]

Yes we did speak to the lawyer for clarification of the judges original ruling in the case.

An attorney works on billable time. ANY time spent on your case is considered billable hours. You talk on the phone and the meter is running. So if you did speak to the attorney for clarification that IS billable time. If he walks to his law library and looks up an answer, that's billable time. If he opens the file and reads the court ruling, that's billable time.

Since you don't say what services he billed you for, I can't say that they are not accurate.

As to the rate charged, you have to go back to the agreement and see if there is an expiration. If you paid a $5K retainer, then you should have received an itemized statement for services applied against the retainer.