No contract with lawyer jam

[troubled11]

I live in New York State

I read that according to Part 1215 Letters of Engagement Rules effective March 2, 2002, an attorney who undertakes to represent a client for fee must provide to the client a written letter of engagement before commencing representation, or within a reasonable time thereafter. Such letter should address, among other things, an explanation of attorney's fees to be charged, expenses and billing practices.

My question is: What happens if the attorney does not provide such an agreement and when the (probate) case is finished, he asks for an unreasonable fee? Before he took the case my lawyer told me that his hourly fee is $200 and now he wants $325 for himself and 325 for his junior lawyer plus a percentage of the estate. Since I have nothing in writing, how do I dispute this?

 

[divgradcurl]

I live in New York State

I read that according to Part 1215 Letters of Engagement Rules effective March 2, 2002, an attorney who undertakes to represent a client for fee must provide to the client a written letter of engagement before commencing representation, or within a reasonable time thereafter. Such letter should address, among other things, an explanation of attorney's fees to be charged, expenses and billing practices.

My question is: What happens if the attorney does not provide such an agreement and when the (probate) case is finished, he asks for an unreasonable fee? Before he took the case my lawyer told me that his hourly fee is $200 and now he wants $325 for himself and 325 for his junior lawyer plus a percentage of the estate. Since I have nothing in writing, how do I dispute this?

Contact the State Bar in New York, they'll have a system set up for disputing fees and fee arbitration.

 

[garrula lingua]

Also, advise the atty that you will register a complaint.
S/he may, voluntarily, change the billing to the agreed rate.

 

[foxdude43]

Verbal Contract

If your initial contract was verbal, it is binding. Unless the lawyer gave you written notice of any changes in fees, you do have some recourse. As the previous responder stated, go to mediation. Demand it, then if you are not satisfied during the mediation process, stop it, leave, then seek the only other means, take it to court. My advice, represent yourself.

 

[troubled11]

DO Lawyers always win fee disputes?

his is my update. I lost the first trial.
________________________________
What is the name of your state? NYS
I want to appeal a final judgment the Surrogate's court made regarding attorney fee in my probate case. I want to do an appeal (in pro se) based on the fact that the referee who heard the case did not apply one important factor in deciding the reasonableness of the attorney fee -- he did not examine the time records which the attorney submitted in the form of handwritten notes on calendars and did not compare those records to the bill which was based entirely on time spent. In that trial I was represented by another attorney who told the referee that those records should not be accepted because they were cryptic and were not contemporaneous. But it seems that the court accepted those records without referring to them other than saying that "the bill was supported by time sheets" and by the other 8 criteria.

In his calendars, the attorney made errors in adding up his hours totaling over 40 hours to his benefit. He then transferred those hours to his bill and charged me $11,000 for that error. In his calendars he shows over 60 hours of research for which he charges me $17,000 -- I think the court should have found those research hours excessive for a lawyer specializing in probate litigation. In his time records the attorney shows over 14 hours for which he is charging me double because he was discussing my case with his junior attorney. He also shows 25 hours of preparation for trial and 25 hours of general file review which I think the referee should have found excessive for the probate trial which lasted 35 hours.

I found the following information on internet but I don't know how it applies to my case :

(1) "In an appeal,you don't have to present your case all over again. The court will just look at the trial record." -- What exactly is the trial record? Is it the ruling as presented by the referee who ruled against me? or does it mean the transcript of the trial?

(2) "The appeals court will only look at the mistakes the court made. It wont look at the facts again. The appeals court has to say how the mistakes changed how the case turned out." Does that mean that I can't present a list of math errors or a list of research dates? And if I don't submit those lists, how will the court know what those mistakes are?

Also can you tell me whether it is correct for me to file the Notice of Appeal with the Surrogate Court? And when I am ready to file my appeal, where should I file it?

And finally, can you give me an idea of what will happen at the appeal hearing, like do I get to talk or present any evidence?

 

[troubled11]

please help

Can someone please help us with the above post. We're in alot of trouble.