No Fee Agreement

[djohnson74]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

In 2007, I spoke with a friend, who is an attorney, about a case involving some online trademark/copyright violations. Based on my friend's recommendation and the fact that she told me that we would likely be able to recover attorney's fees, I decided to go forward with litigation. We lost the case, mainly because of my attorney's lack of knowledge about the subject matter but I decided to move forward and try to forget it all happened. Unfortunately, I received an bill for legal fees totally over $40,000. At that time, I was going through some other business issues so I just made payments on the balance.

In December 2009, I was advised by an attorney to ask for a detailed billing of the fees because it just seemed somewhat excessive. When I received the detailed invoices, I noticed that I was being billed for senior attorneys and other attorneys plus paralegals that I didn't even know worked on my case and never even met. In addition, I was billed for thousands of dollars of legal research, because the main attorney on my case was not competent in the subject matter. I knew that I never agreed to the significant hourly fees that I was being billed for and asked for a copy of the original fee agreement.

Needless to say, I never received a copy of the fee agreement because it simply did not exist. Now, the attorney is threatening to sue me over the owed fees. How can he sue me over fees if there is no fee agreement?

 

[Dandy Don]

Did you sign ANY documents at all from her regarding her legal representation of you? It was your responsibility to do the research before hiring her to see whether she had the exact legal specialty you needed--is there an advertisement or website that shows her legal specialties or does it NOT mention online trademark copyright violations ? Have you ever protested in writing the billing you were given before now? Did you discuss with her your reservations/reluctance at her representation while the trial was going on and did she ever mention to you that she was consulting with other attorneys (before you saw the bill)?

Since she did the work she is obligated to be paid at least a portion of what she is billing for. You would be advised to discuss this dispute with a local attorney and try to get it settled out of court without litigation, as that only will cause you more unnecessary expense. Also check the website for the Florida State Bar Association to see if they will listen to fee dispute complaints or not.

 

[latigo]

Don’t voluntarily pay one red cent to this incompetent overcharging shyster who talked you into filing the lawsuit!

You have a very sound argument that your attorney or attorneys took this case on the mutual understanding that they would be looking to the opposing party for their time charges.

Substantiate by your being encouraged to file the lawsuit and the fact that any monetary commitment on your part was never broached nor were you ever presented with a fee schedule or a billing until the lawsuit was lost.

Just stand firm in your position that you were led to believe before engaging the firm that they would be looking to the other side for their fees. And had it not been so represented you would not have started the court action.

Call “The Florida Bar” and learn how to file a formal grievance based on the fact that they are now threatening the lawsuit to collect for services that are not owed.

The Florida Bar
651 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300
850/561-5600
Fax 850/561-5827

I suspect that what happened is this. The lady attorney not only lost face in loosing the case but is now under the gun from the law firm to account for the time she spent in losing it and is covering her butt by belatedly telling you that you owe her for that time.
______________

Also, please disregard any of DD’s so-called “legal advice”. He is not qualified to offer it.

 

[latigo]

Here are some features of Florida's Cannons of Professional Ethics that should be of interest to you as appear to have been ignored by your attorney.

"Duty to Communicate Basis or Rate of Fee to Client."

"When the lawyer has not regularly represented the client, the basis or rate of the fee shall be communicated to the client, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after commencing the representation."
I will tell you what you can do before going to the expense of bring a lawsuit against the patients and their attorney.

And, “Failure to keep a client informed regarding the amount of fees being incurred violates Rule 4-1.5(e). Florida Bar v. Vining, 761 So. 2d 1044 (Fla. 2000).