How to Challenge Legal Fees: The Definitive Guide

Deciphering Your Lawyer’s Bill

An understanding of how the legal fees are typically structured helps in preparing a meaningful and relevant request for a review. Fees can be charged as hourly rates, fixed fees, or contingent fees. Hourly rates are fixed or vary based on the timekeeper involved in the case . Over the past few decades, the traditional hourly rates have been replaced by fixed fees for specific services that are more predictable. Finally, contingent fees are when a lawyer agrees to take a percentage of the recovery as a form of payment. Careful attention to billing for services rendered is always a good practice. Review it to ensure it accurately reflects what you requested and was done.

Spotting Mistakes in Legal Billing

Among the many disputes we see between clients and their lawyers are those involving excessive legal fees. But what constitutes an excessive legal fee? The answer may be found in some common billing errors, which may prevent a client from having a complete picture of their legal bill when the bill arrives. One common error involves double billing. Some law firms are notorious for this, charging for the same task for multiple people or timekeepers. Double billing deliberately over-charges a client for some tasks. An example: If two different senior partners work on a case or project, they both may include the same phone call or email in their bills. Although there was only one underlying communication, having two lawyers bill for that task effectively creates a duplicate charge, costing the client more money. Another common billing error: charging for non-billable hours. This type of error takes place when a lawyer representing a client later attempts to bill their client for work performed on a non-billable activity, such as from a co-counsel or other attorney in the firm who is otherwise not involved in the particular case. A third, and common, billing error involves the billing of administrative tasks. Commonly performed by paralegals or secretaries, clients should not be charged for these administrative based tasks. These types of tasks include, but are not limited to, copying and faxing, printing and organizing documents, and preparing exhibits for hearings and trials. Administrative tasks should not be charged out at the same or similar rate as the work charged for the lawyers. It is of particular note that paralegals and secretaries should bill out at a lower hourly rate than their attorney counterparts and not at the same or higher rate as an attorney. Common errors such as the above may be difficult for clients to spot, particularly if they are not familiar with their legal matter. If a client becomes aware of any billing errors on their legal bill, they should immediately address it with their lawyer and request an explanation or correction.

Reaching Out to Your Attorney

There should be only one goal in your approach to reviewing disputed fees with your lawyer: to get to the bottom of the issue in a reasonable, fair and objective manner. As discussed above, to dispute fees you must know the details of the relevant fee arrangement and the work performed by the lawyer to determine if there is a reasonable basis for your concerns.
Having that knowledge will go a long way to accomplishing that goal. A caveat, however: if your lawyer does not share an open and fair disposition in discussing the fee breakdown and whether it is reasonable based on the work spent by the lawyer on your matter, then likely you are not dealing with a reasonable lawyer and this exercise will be futile.
A good place to start is simply ask whether your lawyer can review his or her time records in order to address your fee dispute. If your lawyer is unwilling to do this, or states that he or she will disregard your concerns without further discussion, then try another lawyer; anyone who would not be willing to have an open discussion about disputed fees when committed to doing so should give you pause.
If you have challenged the billing practices of your lawyer in a reasonable manner, you are ahead of the curve. In addition to knowing your fee arrangement, and the work performed by your lawyer, the best strategy at this point is to communicate clearly and simply with respect to your concerns. For example, "I received the final invoice for your representation in my last matter over three years ago. That invoice did not include any information (beyond a mere assertion) that you had invoiced and received all prior invoices." This type of statement gives both you and your lawyer a starting point for a candid discussion, and demonstrates that you have done some investigation into the reasonableness of the fee and now simply wish to understand the situation better.
And in that vein, one last piece of advice: it’s generally best to avoid assigning fault or blame in your communications with your lawyer regarding the disputed fee. Granted, you may believe that your lawyer has failed to abide by an explicit or implicit promise or an ethical obligation with respect to the fee. But if there has been a failure in this regard, this discussion should take place after the focus is on determining whether the fee is reasonable, not based on perceived wrongdoing by the lawyer. Continuing to keep the focus on the reasonableness of the fee, without resorting to assigning or implying blame, will go a long way towards getting an honest response to your inquiries.

Mediation as a Remedy

Mediation is a much more efficient and cost-effective way to resolve legal fee disputes than litigation. However, some lawyers and law firms will resist an effort to mediate a fee dispute because they are inexperienced with the process. Mediation is a dialogue that leads to creative solutions that can be developed by both parties. Rather than having a judge or jury impose a result, mediation, as an alternative, can be much more productive. At the conclusion of mediation a settlement agreement can be put into writing and signed by both sides. However, if no settlement can be reached, both the lawyer and client have the option to litigate. Very often, mediation works well because it is the first time both sides have had the opportunity to speak about the issues in their disagreement.
The mediation process is simple. A neutral third party sits down with both the lawyer and client and facilitates a discussion. The discussions can either be confidential or non-confidential. What is important is that both parties are able to bring up issues, ask questions and address their concerns with each other. Sometimes mediation can be more productive when done over a series of days and even over a long distance. Modern technology and online video conferencing services can also be used for mediation, such as Zoom, Skype or Go-to-Meeting. Just like in person conferences, the neutral is able to move from one side to the other in non-directive way and is not there to judge or offer their own opinions about the merits of either side.
Finding a good neutral can be challenging. A list of certified mediators is available on the OCRC website. The parties may also agree to use the services of a district court magistrate and request that their case be sent to mediation.

Lodging a Formal Grievance

Formal complaints against lawyers are made through the state bar. For instance, in Florida, the Florida Bar is responsible for investigating and prosecuting complaints against Florida lawyers. You may file your complaint against a lawyer with the Florida Bar at the following website: Florida Lawyer Regulation. The website will link to your state bar’s system for filing a complaint. Be aware that the bar rules of which lawyer regulation is a part have very specific timelines that set out when and how lawyers should be notified about disputes over fees, including how long lawyers have to respond to a dispute and what actions take place if the lawyer fails to respond and the client files a complaint with the bar.
In my experience, here are the pertinent information requirements for filing a complaint against a lawyer from Missouri with the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel , Missouri’s state bar association:
In response to the allegations made in your complaint, the attorney will have the opportunity to respond, to submit any requested documents with their response, and potentially provide other information that the attorney may feel is pertinent to the complaint. Once the attorney has had sufficient time to respond, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel may inquire further and/or refer the matter for investigation.
Following an investigation, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel will determine whether to file a formal complaint with the state supreme court. If a formal complaint is filed by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, counsel for the respondent may file an answer to contest the charges. In this case, the case is referred to a board of examiners where formal proceedings may be instituted. Ultimately, the board of examiners hearing the case will make a recommendation to the state supreme court on how to resolve the issue.

Pursuing Legal Action

If you’ve tried to obtain an explanation for the amount being charged and how it relates to the work done, but your concerns have fallen on deaf ears, you may be wondering what other options you have at your disposal. You should be aware from the outset that unless you can establish dishonesty or fraud by the lawyer, or misconduct by the Law Society, you will not recover your costs from either of them.
Small Claims Court may be the best option.
The first option is to issue a small claims complaint against the lawyer.
The Supreme Court Small Claims Rules allow a plaintiff to issue a claim for any amount under $35,000. Rather than paying out upwards of $10,000 for a typical lawsuit, you can pay only the Court filing fee of about $100, and bring your claim forward in a timely manner.
The winner will be awarded their costs.
If you win your small claims action, you will probably be awarded your costs, which, as mentioned above, are usually only about $200 to $300. If you lose, you will have to pay those costs to the lawyer you sued. Either way, you are only likely to be out-of-pocket a couple of hundred dollars.
The process
You can issue the claim against the lawyer and Law Society simultaneously or separately. After you issue the claim, the lawyer will have 28 days to file a defence. If they do not defend the case, you may obtain a default judgment. If they do defend the case, there will be a settlement conference and a judge will give an opinion on the merits of the case. If the case does not settle, a judge will hear the case and render a decision.
Costs awards depend upon the complexity of the matter. You might receive the enhanced costs, i.e., $350 instead of $250, if the matter is sufficiently complex, but not if it was not complex.
You will only need to attend Court once. The Court order will be available online. The loser will have 30 days to pay the judgment or 30 days to appeal the decision. Enforcement can be difficult if the judgment debtor refuses to pay or has no assets.

Avoiding Future Issues

It is easy to get caught up in the emotional and time-consuming process of trying to get your hard-earned money back from a law firm, and to become so focused on the past that you lose sight of the future. But it is important to remember that it is possible to avoid many of these disputes simply by being clear about what the fees are going to be on the front end and having a frank discussion about how your relationship is going to work with the law firm.
First, understand that if there is any possibility you will be unhappy with the law firm or the way they are treating you or representing you or charging you come time to pay, it is important to get everything in writing before work is started. This will ensure you have a clear understanding of what to expect in terms of cost and prevent anyone from being surprised down the road.
Second , this is where it becomes important to ask questions. During the initial meetings and retainer discussions, ask absolutely everything you want to know about the firm’s fees and how they will charge you. Especially at the beginning and during the first few times you receive a bill or like you are going to be charged for a court appearance or unexpected phone call, ask the law firm to explain their billing procedures and give you a detailed accounting of what services you are going to be charged for. If you disagree with your bill, do not hesitate to speak up and tell the firm you feel uncomfortable with some of the charges. It is a lot easier to address the situation before it spirals out of control.