Would you like the inside scoop on how to get the best bargain on attorney fees? Here’s the deal: it doesn’t really matter how the fees are structured. What matters is that you pay attention to how much you’re being charged. It may be a month before you get your first bill, and during that time, you could inadvertently spend far more than you can afford. It is perfectly reasonable for you to request a weekly itemization of time spent on your case, especially until that first bill comes. After a few weeks of careful analysis, you’ll start to understand the pattern of charges, and you’ll get a good sense of how you can control how much you ultimately spend on this divorce.
You will also preserve more property for yourself, of course, if part of your divorce planning takes minimizing your legal fees into account. But holding legal fees down should not be carried out in such a way that you become penny-wise and pound-foolish. Don’t, for example, rely on your spouse’s lawyer to do all the work. Opposing counsel is not safeguarding your interests, of that you can be certain. You can lower your own legal fees however, if your lawyer charges on an hourly basis, by avoiding long-winded telephone conversations and unnecessarily long meetings with your attorney; you can accomplish this by doing lots of the document “homework” on your own, by taking as reasonable a position as possible in negotiations, and by steering clear of protracted litigation. Document “homework,” which is described at length in our articles on “Divorce and Finances,” is an integral requirement for proper divorce planning. Read the articles now, and then read it again later.
