What is the name of your state? CA
In Jan 2020 i retained counsel for a matter where two of my tenants had left, and illegally sublet my unit to new people.
In March 2020 covid hit and all cases came to a standstill. Opposing counsel sent us discovery requests, and my lawyer raked up almost 6K in fees just to respond to discovery. The extent of this billing was not disclosed to me until they invoiced me. But yes, the hourly rate they charged was in the minutae of the contract I signed with them. I told my lawyer not to spend anything in the 1000s without preauthorization as everythign was a standstill (courts, motions, etc). I asked my lawyer if we had to respond to discovery given that covid had put everythign on hold. But he said that we HAD to respond (this was around april/may/jun 2021 timeframe) or else we would be censured.
I grudgingly paid that bill.
The opposing counsel a few weeks later sent back clarification requests for discovery - and my lawyer called me again and said we had to respond to that, or else we would be censured by court, penalized etc. I asked them how much the charges would be and they said 2-3 hours of thier work (verbal conversation). I again grudgingly okayed these. A few months later I was send invoices for another 3200 worth of discovery response related charges.
The case was dragged up until March 2021 when we settled, on extremely unfavorable conditions to us. During that time, my lawyer claimed default judgement erroneously - and then they ended up invoicing me thier court fees to show up to vacate an ex-parte judgement (because they filed default a few days earlier than they should have).
As of now there is about 10K worth of invoices that are not paid. I have told them I do not want to pay any of the discovery related charges. I believe that in this COVID time when no courts were in session, no settlement conferences had been agreed to, why not just file an extension - instead of racking up almost 9K in discovery fees.
My lawyer has now sued me in civil for breach of contract, in Los Angeles county, Santa Monica courthouse. I explained to them my situation and told them that I will pay for everything up except for the discovery fees, and the fees for them to show up to vacate the ex-parte judgement they erroneously file. He is refusing to settle.
I want to explore my options.
1. Pay all the invoices that I am generally ok with - and just hold back the approx 3500 worth of payments.
2. File a response - and claim what? My logical claim is that he should not have racked up discovery charges - not a good strategy
3. Do not pay anything, file a response, and counter sue for the 6K worth of discovery fees I already paid to them.
Wanted to see if my case has any merit or should i just move on with my life and learn a lesson not to deal with lawyers unless its life or death?
In Jan 2020 i retained counsel for a matter where two of my tenants had left, and illegally sublet my unit to new people.
In March 2020 covid hit and all cases came to a standstill. Opposing counsel sent us discovery requests, and my lawyer raked up almost 6K in fees just to respond to discovery. The extent of this billing was not disclosed to me until they invoiced me. But yes, the hourly rate they charged was in the minutae of the contract I signed with them. I told my lawyer not to spend anything in the 1000s without preauthorization as everythign was a standstill (courts, motions, etc). I asked my lawyer if we had to respond to discovery given that covid had put everythign on hold. But he said that we HAD to respond (this was around april/may/jun 2021 timeframe) or else we would be censured.
I grudgingly paid that bill.
The opposing counsel a few weeks later sent back clarification requests for discovery - and my lawyer called me again and said we had to respond to that, or else we would be censured by court, penalized etc. I asked them how much the charges would be and they said 2-3 hours of thier work (verbal conversation). I again grudgingly okayed these. A few months later I was send invoices for another 3200 worth of discovery response related charges.
The case was dragged up until March 2021 when we settled, on extremely unfavorable conditions to us. During that time, my lawyer claimed default judgement erroneously - and then they ended up invoicing me thier court fees to show up to vacate an ex-parte judgement (because they filed default a few days earlier than they should have).
As of now there is about 10K worth of invoices that are not paid. I have told them I do not want to pay any of the discovery related charges. I believe that in this COVID time when no courts were in session, no settlement conferences had been agreed to, why not just file an extension - instead of racking up almost 9K in discovery fees.
My lawyer has now sued me in civil for breach of contract, in Los Angeles county, Santa Monica courthouse. I explained to them my situation and told them that I will pay for everything up except for the discovery fees, and the fees for them to show up to vacate the ex-parte judgement they erroneously file. He is refusing to settle.
I want to explore my options.
1. Pay all the invoices that I am generally ok with - and just hold back the approx 3500 worth of payments.
2. File a response - and claim what? My logical claim is that he should not have racked up discovery charges - not a good strategy
3. Do not pay anything, file a response, and counter sue for the 6K worth of discovery fees I already paid to them.
Wanted to see if my case has any merit or should i just move on with my life and learn a lesson not to deal with lawyers unless its life or death?