So how come it costs so much to hire a lawyer for your Florida divorce? We all know expert advice is worth paying for. However, how exactly do lawyers bill? Lawyers bill by the time spent working on your case. Specifically, we bill by the hour, or any part of that hour, spent on required tasks to advance your case.
Hours are billed in units of 1/10th of an hour. Six minutes equal 1/10th of an hour, or 0.10. So if you're paying an hourly rate of $250 dollars per hour, any task taking 0.10 of an hour would result in a charge of $25.00 ($250 X 0.10).
Normally, you and your lawyer will sign a retainer agreement which, among other things, provides the hourly rate and the minimum unit of time for any task to be performed in your case. It is common for lawyers bill a minimum of 0.20 of an hour. This means you will pay for 12 minutes (60 minutes X 0.20) for any task, even if the task takes only 9 minutes.
A task or activity in your case can be anything from a telephone conversations with you or anyone else regarding your case; preparing your Florida divorce petition, calculating your child support according to the Florida Child Support Guidelines; dictating a letter, preparing for trial or deposition, etc. In short, anything that will advance your case, in one way or another, to its ultimate conclusion. Notice there is no mention as to result, only to conclusion or resolution of your case-no attorney can guarantee a particular result in any case, regardless of their experience or who they know.
Now that you know how lawyers charge, it is easy to see why a contested divorce can easily cost $10,000 or more. The more you and your spouse fight, the more it will cost both of you.
In an uncontested Florida divorce, the billing and hourly rates are usually the same.
© 2007 Vivian Rodriguez
Vivian Rodriguez has been a practicing attorney in Florida since 1988, and is also a Florida Supreme Court-certified family law mediator. http://www.viviancrodriguez.com Or for professional preparation of our uncontested Florida divorce Forms visit http://www.myezfloridadivorce.com Tel 305-760-4557 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vivian_Rodriguez |
No comments:
Post a Comment