Being sued by a lawyer - arbitration or litigation

[Fly eagles]

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

Have a family member who is recently divorced. Paid a large retainer for the divorce and obained the divorce by default judgement, no answer even filed.

Upon completion of the case she received two more bills for a few thousand more dollars. Extensive amounts for doc prep, double billing, etc... she tried to get the lawyer to explain why it cost so much for a pretty straight forward case, but was only told to pay up. She has no money but started to pay a hundred per month to just work on getting it taken care of. Finally she got another bill four month later for a few hundred more. This bill was for voice mails they supposedly left and a call she made to the office to try to setup payment arrangements. She felt the charge was unreasonable but tried to pay and get them off her back. They never even credited her for the four hundred she paid. Two days after that bill she received a summons. I am guessing we have 20 days to answer and I prepared that but...

What are the risks of filing a motion to compel arbitration, if possible? Can we do that? And if that goes through who has to initiate arbitration? The retainer agreement has an arbitration clause.

I know we are painted in a corner since they are going to ask for more legal fees than the case is even worth. But I fear arbitration, if granted, will cost more.

 

[quincy]

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

Have a family member who is recently divorced. Paid a large retainer for the divorce and obained the divorce by default judgement, no answer even filed.

Upon completion of the case she received two more bills for a few thousand more dollars. Extensive amounts for doc prep, double billing, etc... she tried to get the lawyer to explain why it cost so much for a pretty straight forward case, but was only told to pay up. She has no money but started to pay a hundred per month to just work on getting it taken care of. Finally she got another bill four month later for a few hundred more. This bill was for voice mails they supposedly left and a call she made to the office to try to setup payment arrangements. She felt the charge was unreasonable but tried to pay and get them off her back. They never even credited her for the four hundred she paid. Two days after that bill she received a summons. I am guessing we have 20 days to answer and I prepared that but...

What are the risks of filing a motion to compel arbitration, if possible? Can we do that? And if that goes through who has to initiate arbitration? The retainer agreement has an arbitration clause.

I know we are painted in a corner since they are going to ask for more legal fees than the case is even worth. But I fear arbitration, if granted, will cost more.

Here is a link to the Florida Bar Association's Consumer Pamphlet on ""Consumer Guide to the Legal Fee Arbitration Program." Your family member can read through what is there: http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/0a92a6dc28e76ae58525700a005d0d53/c0bd2f20e7efae2685256b2f006c616d?OpenDocument

How long ago did your family member retain the attorney and when was the divorce finalized? Did your family member ask for a detailed invoice? Did she ask her attorney about items appearing on the invoice that puzzled her?

You, by the way, are not going to be painted into any corner. Your family member will be. But it is nice of you to try to help her.

 

[Fly eagles]

Thanks for your reply:

She retained the lawyer last year and finalized the divorce in the summer. She asked on several occasions to explain the amount and why it was so much. She did this even during intake when they did they retainer agreement for a contested divorce, telling her they had to assume initially that it would be contested. They also led her to believe that it would be less if not contested. Upon requesting an explaination she was told that it what it cost. She has the billing statements but they are block billing so it become confusing. Also they made continuous changes and adjustments to the documents, running up the charge. Reserved to the fact that she would just have to pay she called to try to make payment arrangements and they told her no, pay in full or we will litigate. She does not have the money to pay hands down. She then recieved another bill that included a 40 dollar charge for calling to make payment arranments and seperate charges for alleged voice mails they left. She then started making payments each month to try to get it taken care of and get on with he life. They have not even credited her payments, but did cash the checks.

I feel the litigation is simply another way to obtain a judgement and tack on more fees. The arbitration agreement states that each will bear their own fees but it calls for selecting arbitrators first. I still thing that this may be cheaper even if she loses. I also suspect the possibility they filed to try to obtain an easy default judgement against a 22 year old single mother.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for your reply:

She retained the lawyer last year and finalized the divorce in the summer. She asked on several occasions to explain the amount and why it was so much. She did this even during intake when they did they retainer agreement for a contested divorce, telling her they had to assume initially that it would be contested. They also led her to believe that it would be less if not contested. Upon requesting an explaination she was told that it what it cost. She has the billing statements but they are block billing so it become confusing. Also they made continuous changes and adjustments to the documents, running up the charge. Reserved to the fact that she would just have to pay she called to try to make payment arrangements and they told her no, pay in full or we will litigate. She does not have the money to pay hands down. She then received another bill that included a 40 dollar charge for calling to make payment arranments and separate charges for alleged voice mails they left. She then started making payments each month to try to get it taken care of and get on with he life. They have not even credited her payments, but did cash the checks.

I feel the litigation is simply another way to obtain a judgement and tack on more fees. The arbitration agreement states that each will bear their own fees but it calls for selecting arbitrators first. I still thing that this may be cheaper even if she loses. I also suspect the possibility they filed to try to obtain an easy default judgement against a 22 year old single mother.

I am sorry that your family member is having a bad experience with her lawyer. Getting divorced is tough enough without an attorney adding to the problems.

What I have bolded above could be a problem. It would be best if your family could find some free (or low cost) legal aid in her area so her contract with the attorney and all of the billings/invoices and her payments can be personally reviewed. Depending on what the personal review reveals, your family member might want to file a complaint against the attorney with the Florida Bar. If the attorney has not explained the reasons behind the charges and if the attorney is, in fact, charging for calls over payment arrangements and is charging for voice mails initiated by him/his office, the attorney might be unreasonably inflating his bill.

What I know about Florida arbitration is pretty much what is found in the link I provided. I live in Michigan not Florida. But I believe that both your family member and the attorney must agree in writing to participate in the arbitration program. The program itself is free, however, and would for that reason alone be preferable to court.

Good luck.