There are various charges a lawyer can charge you. Some are standard and most are pretty common between lawyers and clients. They can be major differences between the following arrangements, but the goal is still that the lawyers sell their time and the people who want that time will pay based upon how much they want a particular lawyer’s time.
Some common fee arrangements include:
Hourly Fees
Family lawyers charge an hourly fee, and in fact this is perhaps the most common arrangement. With this type of arrangement, the lawyer charges you for each hour he or she works on your particular case. These rates can vary depending on many factors, including the lawyer’s experience, whether your location is in a large city, or whether you are in a small town. In general, large cities tend to cost more than small towns do. Some lawyers also charge one more expensive rate for time in court and then a lesser fee to meet clients in their offices.
Hourly fees are typical with family law, because many unpredictable things can happen. For example, there can be parental kidnappings, clients can move away, or custody battles can happen. All of these things require the lawyer to react with specific legal responses on short notice. For these types of efforts, the lawyer will typically charge from between $75 an hour to $400 an hour. In some cases, very experienced family lawyers in a large city can even charges much is $500 an hour.
Contingency Fees
Contingency fees are a popular way for a lawyer to be paid. In this case, the lawyer is only paid if the client wins in court or is given a settlement. With this type of arrangement, the lawyer takes a percentage of the amount awarded to the client. Many states forbid contingency fees in family law cases, so it’s not likely that you’ll find many lawyers working for contingency in family law.
There is one exception, which is when a parent pursues another parent for a support delinquency. In these types of cases, the lawyer can take from 20 to 50% of the final settlement or collected amount. Other typical contingency fees may include personal injury cases or medical malpractice. Workers’ compensation is also another type of contingency fee arrangement.
Posted on April 21st, 2008 by Brent Delaurentis
Filed under: Articles
[…] womensphere wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptHourly fees are typical with family law, because many unpredictable things can happen. For example, there can be parental kidnappings, clients can move away, or custody battles can happen. All of these things require the lawyer to react … […]