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Wednesday March 10th 2010
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I wanted to post a gripe about one of my clients who we can just call A. He is the most obnoxious guy ever. He is not to blame for anything. I don’t know what his wife ever saw on him in the first place. The guy is rotten through and through. A real crook. The kind of guy you wouldn’t be shocked to find out is a terrorist or mob informant or something. Scary son of a bitch. The thing is I can’t seem to get him to pay me. I moved to be relieved by the judge pretty much won’t let me off the case. He was just like, do what everybody else does. Arbitrate. I swear some judges just should not be on the bench. They need to come out here in the trenches to see what it’s like. Then he would be more sympathetic. How come clients never want to pay their attorney for their services? I’ve been practicing 2 years (fresh out of law school) and I feel like I’m always fighting clients to get my money. Anybody have any sage advice for a rookie lawyer on how to make sure you get paid with these contested divorces?
P.W. I feel your pain. I’ve heard the same thing from other solos. I have no sage advise on this but maybe someone will write in with some. Let’s give it a few weeks.
What you quickly learn my friend, is that you sue them like dogs, or starve. SUE em’. Don’t let up till you get your money. But you should prepare to settle the case for dimes on the dollar.
I think the worse thing you can do is sue a client. That’s why charging them through the nose on the front end is so importatant. No self-respecting divorce lawyer should charge less than $15,000 for a contested divorce. Better to refund the unused portion than having to chase these dead beats down for your money. The problem is the average divorce lawyer in NYC probably graduated from a shit law school and so they can’t really justify the $15,000. So they end up charging $5000 or something less. Dumb. Charge em’ through the nose from the get go. Barring that, cut your losses and move on. Sueing is just plain a waste of time and energy and could do your reputation more harm than good.
My own take on this issue is that, generally speaking, its not a good idea to sue a client. (Or former client, because you would have to withdraw from representation before you could sue them.)
You should establish a reasonable retainer based on your education, skill level and experience. You should get paid in advance. You need to realize that if someone cannot pay you now, they probably cannot pay you later.
Finally, most state statutes have a provision for filing an attorney’s lien on the marital estate. You need to be careful about how you do this and you need to carefully review the statutes and case law in your state. But if all else fails, this can provide an effective remedy.
Dan Fiskum, Esq.
http://www.fiskumlaw.com