Re: My lawyer won't give me my fees back after I was awarde

More | Report Post

On 4/05/09, kathy C wrote:
> I won a civil suit, breach of contract, for some work I
> did for a homeowner and was awarded attorney fees. The
> only reason I won was I was 200&37; in the right. Now that
> the defendant has finally paid, my lawyer refuses to give
> me back what I have paid him, stating that he has more
> fees accrued then the judge allowed. He billed me once for
> $200.00 hr and stated that was more for the file then me.
> Now he's billed $250.00. He said in the biginning when
> asked how much he charged, we would work it out and that
> he usually got $150 an hr. I threw him what ever I had
> from time to time and to date is $1800.. I won $10,035 and
> the judge awarded the same amount in fees. My lawyer says
> his costs were $15,000 which I'm sure is out of line and
> exagerated. Should I get my money back that I have spent
> on attorney fees or is this just the way it goes. I feel
> ripped off.

Hey,

Look. The amount the judge awarded and attorneys fees due
really don't have any correlation. Its a contractual matter
between the two of you. (You can't keep any of it though for
other reasons.).

However, It does sound like you have a valid contractual
argument though and the lawyer definitely owes you an
itemized breakdown.