rule 68

[saleen556]

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

How much does income matter? Just had a hearing for attorney fees after a custody fight that was instigated by my ex-wife. I had been open to joint custody from the beginning. However she was not. After a custody evaluation i was recommended custody and she still pushed it to trial. She only settled by giving me custody after she new she had lost and before the judge could give her decision. Now at the hearing she was there representing herself as her lawyer withdrew as she isn't paying him. She states she can't afford hers let alone mine. She makes 45k a year versus my 53k. Not a huge difference. I have accumulated over 45k in lawyer fees because she pushed it all the way to the end.

What are the chances of her having to pick up a decent amount of my fees as i was always willing to settle and it was her that made me accumulate this debt?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[LdiJ]

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

How much does income matter? Just had a hearing for attorney fees after a custody fight that was instigated by my ex-wife. I had been open to joint custody from the beginning. However she was not. After a custody evaluation i was recommended custody and she still pushed it to trial. She only settled by giving me custody after she new she had lost and before the judge could give her decision. Now at the hearing she was there representing herself as her lawyer withdrew as she isn't paying him. She states she can't afford hers let alone mine. She makes 45k a year versus my 53k. Not a huge difference. I have accumulated over 45k in lawyer fees because she pushed it all the way to the end.

What are the chances of her having to pick up a decent amount of my fees as i was always willing to settle and it was her that made me accumulate this debt?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Based on what you have said, I think its not very likely that she would have to pay your legal fees.

Unless this is a case where she has repeatedly taken you to court for custody and has repeatedly lost, she wasn't required to settle and had the right to have her day in court.

 

[mistoffolees]

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

How much does income matter? Just had a hearing for attorney fees after a custody fight that was instigated by my ex-wife. I had been open to joint custody from the beginning. However she was not. After a custody evaluation i was recommended custody and she still pushed it to trial. She only settled by giving me custody after she new she had lost and before the judge could give her decision. Now at the hearing she was there representing herself as her lawyer withdrew as she isn't paying him. She states she can't afford hers let alone mine. She makes 45k a year versus my 53k. Not a huge difference. I have accumulated over 45k in lawyer fees because she pushed it all the way to the end.

What are the chances of her having to pick up a decent amount of my fees as i was always willing to settle and it was her that made me accumulate this debt?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

There are two reasons for being awarded legal fees:

1. If there is a large difference in income, the higher income person can be ordered to pay some or all of the other person's legal fees. Clearly, that's not the case here.

2. If one person frivolously files endless motions and pursues unreasonable actions that lead to a drastic increase in the other person's expense, the court can order them to pay. You would have to show that her actions had no reason other than an intention of driving up your costs and that she never had a chance of winning what she requested. That would be fairly hard to prove - but it's worth asking your attorney the next time you talk with him.

Since it's going to be hard to prove and you might never collect even if you did prove it, it may not be worth pursuing. OTOH, it might not be very expensive or time consuming to file for it and hope the judge sides with you.

 

[saleen556]

I think I have a shot with your reason #2. She never had a chance as I had been already recommended by the custody evaluator and she had been reported to Child protective services multiple times including once by the evaluator. She drug the case out in the hopes of an extra child support check. I believe it was proven in court. This is already done and i am just waiting for the judges decision. Just was curious what other professionals thought. My lawyer has 35+ years experience and seems to think I have a shot at recouping some of the funds. There were also numerous false accusations that caused my higher fees and all were proven untrue.

 

[Silverplum]

I think I have a shot with your reason #2. She never had a chance as I had been already recommended by the custody evaluator and she had been reported to Child protective services multiple times including once by the evaluator. She drug the case out in the hopes of an extra child support check. I believe it was proven in court. This is already done and i am just waiting for the judges decision. Just was curious what other professionals thought. My lawyer has 35+ years experience and seems to think I have a shot at recouping some of the funds. There were also numerous false accusations that caused my higher fees and all were proven untrue.

You should pay attention to your attorney.

confused: Why seek out a message board when you have an experienced attorney? )

 

[mistoffolees]

My lawyer has 35+ years experience and seems to think I have a shot at recouping some of the funds. There were also numerous false accusations that caused my higher fees and all were proven untrue.

I'm glad the attorney agrees with me, but 99% of the time, you should be listening to the attorney even if he doesn't agree with strangers on a forum like this. Your attorney has all the facts and knows how your particular judge is likely to react.