• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Can I request an accounting of time?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

Samm1970

Member
What is the name of your state? MN

Hi,

Recently I hired an attoreny to prepare a confession of judgement and a mortgage. I understood it would cost me about $230 - $460 to prepare the confession of judement as the attorney estimated it would take him 1 - 2 hours of time.

Before he was completed with the confession and while the details were still fresh in his mind, I asked him to prepare a mortgage for the same matter.
Basically, I had convinced the debtor to sign the mortgage in addition to the confession of judgement. Initially he had only agrred to sign a confession of judgement.


The attorney e-mailed the final draft of the confession and the mortgage along with the bill showing 4 hours at $230 per hour = $920.00. Later in a response to an e-mail I sent him with a brief question, he stated he now had 5 hours into this for a total of $1,120.00. The question I posed was a simple question, requiring no research. The question was basically "are you going to send an official bill and hard copies of the confession and mortgage". Again this was after he e-mailed the final draft and the summary of charges so his work was complete.

So, my question centers around the amount of time it took him to prepare the mortgage and the additional hour he added. As you know, mortgages include mostly standard, state specific verbage. All that was required was that he insert the debtors name and the address of the home to which the mortgage would secure, a very brief legal description and a brief summary tieing in the confession of judgement. It seems unreasonable that it took him two hours, not to mention 3 hours of additional time to complete the mortgage. It's important to note that I had provided him with all pertinent details in writing; names, addresses, legal description amounts, etc.. so there was no research required on his part. All he had to do was insert the data I provided him onto the documents.

So my questions are these:

First, If I request it, is he required to provide me an accounting of his time and can he charge or bill me for the time it takes to prepare this?

Finally, is there some formal process (assuming his accounting is filled with a lot of fluff) to dispute the hours he claims he worked? If after he provides the accounting of his time it seems legitimate, then of course I simply pay the bill and move on.

Please let me know if you require additional details.

Thank you for your time!

Sam
 
Last edited:



Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top