How to lower Attorney Fees – Client’s perspective
John F. Hedrick, Colorado divorce attorney
The number one questions we get from potential new clients – are what is your retainer and what is your hourly rate? While both of these questions are very important in determining the cost of your dissolution, this blog is going to address things you can do as client to reduce your attorney fees and costs.
The number one thing a client can do in assisting their attorney in keeping the costs down is being organized and informed.
A significant cost to the client in a dissolution process is completing ones initial disclosures (financial information) for the Court and opposing party. This is a tedious task and is very time consuming. However, the client can handle most of the tediousness and time consuming, by spending a significant amount of time by themselves in organizing, gathering, and completing the requested financial information.
The more time you spend, the less time your attorney and paralegal will spend, thus saving you a significant amount of money.
Be organized and take your time in completing the requested information. A significant factor in a high attorney bill is a high number of requests and communications from the attorney/paralegal to the client. If it takes an attorney/paralegal 5 requests for information, your bill is going to be higher than if it took 1. Also, if it is completed correctly the first time, it will save the cost of multiple revisions or requests.
Another thing a client can do to lower their costs is ask multiple questions at one time, either by phone or email. Do not call your attorney on a daily basis, unless it is necessary, because each of these calls or emails is going to be billed.
If you have a question and need to contact your attorney, take a minute and think if there are any more questions that you may have. Again, follow up calls or emails are what cause a significant increase in attorney fees.
Also, email your questions to your attorney, so you have a written record of your questions and his answer. That way you can review previous emails before asking a question another time or a third time.
A dissolution is a stressful process, however if you can follow the above advise by staying organized, informed, and documenting previous questions and answers, you will be able to significantly lower your attorney fees.
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