What Can You Do About Fee Disputes With Your Lawyer in Massachusetts? скачать в хорошем качестве

What Can You Do About Fee Disputes With Your Lawyer in Massachusetts?

Legal fee disputes here in Massachusetts. Good afternoon. My name is Neil Burns. I'm an attorney, and I've been practicing law here in Massachusetts for 40 years. Along with my partner, Rashan Jan, we represent victims of legal malpractice and personal injury. We get a lot of calls about fee disputes — legal fee disputes. Sometimes they involve significant amounts, and sometimes they don’t, but here’s what we generally look at when evaluating these cases. First, we look at communication. Was there communication back and forth between the attorney and the client? Did the client say, “I don’t understand these bills,” and did the attorney respond, explaining the charges in a reasonable way? You need communication. If there was no communication throughout the case and then, at the end, you receive a huge bill that you completely didn’t expect, the first step is still to communicate and ask for clarification. For example, if the attorney said the work would be handled by an associate at one rate, and it turns out it was handled by a partner at a different rate, that needs to be discussed. Sometimes these disputes can be resolved easily between the attorney and the client. If that doesn't work and you need to hire a lawyer, understand that these cases — especially when the underlying matter was litigation — can be challenging. Litigation attorneys know how to litigate, and they’re typically not insured for overbilling. There is no insurance that covers fee disputes, so they may fight aggressively. This means you need to consider the bill in the context of the upcoming bill from your new attorney — the malpractice attorney or contract dispute attorney. We take these cases, and we do so often, but they are tough as a practical matter. Again, the opposing attorney knows how to litigate, knows how to bill, and has done so already — and now you are being billed by someone else to fight those bills. So look at the situation from a practical perspective. Can you negotiate? Talk to the prior attorney. Communicate. And most importantly, communicate all along — not just at the end. If the attorney is working on your case, ask every month or two, “What’s the status? What’s the bill?” They may say they haven’t done anything for a couple of months — that’s good communication. But when you know they’re actively working, get updated bills so you are not blindsided when the final bill comes in. If you think you’ve been overbilled and want to retain an attorney, we at Burns and Jan handle these matters often. But again, they can be complicated and not always practical to pursue. Still, give us a call for a free initial consultation. We’re aggressive, we’re assertive, and we get great results. It’s a free consultation. Call 617-227-7423. Thank you.