WHY I HAVE DECIDED TO CHARGE FLAT FEES FOR ALL OF MY DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW CASES
I have decided to charge flat fees for all of my divorce and family law cases-contested and uncontested-from now on, and here is why:
1. Flat fees are better for my clients and my office. The client knows exactly what he or she will pay, and I know exactly what I will receive. There is less tension between my clients and my office over fees, billing, and communications. If a doctor can manage to charge a flat fee for major surgery, I can certainly manage to properly estimate a fee for a divorce.
2. Flat fees provide an incentive for my office to focus more thoroughly on the case and the client than on billing. This will result in better outcomes for clients, which is ultimately better for my office.
3. Clients hire attorneys for their knowledge and expertise, they do not rent them by the hour like power tools from Home Depot-or at least they should not. I have come to the conclusion that I can, actually, estimate the time and complexity of a case if my client and I can have a detailed consultation where the client provides reasonably accurate information about his or her life and situation.
4. I think clients will enthusiastically embrace this new way of doing business, which will ultimately benefit my office.
So, I guess I will soon learn whether this new idea of mine will succeed or fail. I will keep writing about my experiences with this new practice model in future posts.
Very edgy move for contested divorces. I have been offering extremely affordable flat fee rates for uncontested divorces, but have never heard of any law offices doing so for contested divorces. Best of luck.
Please come and read my NY Divorce Attorney Blog and let me know what you think. Cheers!
I would also recommend installing a dofollow plugin for your blog to encourage more comments! Just a friendly recommendation to a fellow Cardozo grad!
What a great idea to charge a flat fee. I am in AZ and my son's last divorce attorney charged $3oo per hour. After about $2700 of only filing he changed his mind (no refund in any amount) two years ago. In Jan he filed again, for sure, and a lawyer we hired now is $200 hour and $225 while in court. I am wondering if he will get the same service?With the economy the way it is- we have a 24 year old with two year college AA looking for work,a 19 who just found a job after a year and still attending college like her brother, the 23 year old divorcing and two kids here.
QUESTION??
Why can't a father get emergency custody of his children if mom is caught Class 2 dangerous drug-meth? is it because she has to go to hearing Monday and arraignment Thursday? Our hearing with divorce judge will be Thursday afternoon in another city?