Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
Is this Common for Attorneys to Charge this Way?
I have a case where I retained an attorney in the beggining, one lump fee. The
contract stated that despite there being an ''hourly rate'' associated with what
this attorney charges, that the total fee I was paying would cover all their
responsibilites up until trial and to the end of trial. Also about 40% of the fee
in the contract is to be returned if it is resolved without ever having a trial.
Well during this time this attorney has filed quite a few pre-trial motions. We
did them and won a couple of them. One of the ones we won the gov. is now
appealing before trial. I didn't even know they could do this. I thought all
appeals happen after trial. When I asked her about this she said that it is
extremely common for them to appeal before trial. Well now even though in
my contract it said the fee was till the completion of the trial, the attorney
wants another 20k just to fight the appeal. She never said when she wanted
to do the motions that it might end up costing more if we win and the gov.
appeals. And the fee paid is supposed to pay for the trial too. Is this common
to charge?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Is this Common for Attorneys to Charge this Way?
It is possible, but at those prices, it has to be someone experienced and good.
Re: Is this Common for Attorneys to Charge this Way?
An appeal is not part of a trial fee, so additional charges are appropriate. The amount quoted for appeal is not really out of line. You should get a second opinion on the appeal and fees. You will have to work out an agreement with the attorney, or get a new attorney. Sounds like she has been earning her money, by winning the motions.
Re: Is this Common for Attorneys to Charge this Way?
There are some pre-trial orders which can be appealed immediately, but they are fairly unusual. Your case might involve a somewhat different procedure called a writ petition, which many laypeople equate with an appeal. A writ petition is a request for the Court of Appeal to intervene and correct a non-appealable order which will cause significant harm if not corrected immediately.
Appellate courts deny most writ petitions very quickly. Even when they take some time, other parties to the case should not file oppositions unless and until the Court asks them to.
If your opponent brought a writ petition and the Court has asked for an opposition, your attorney should prepare one. Whether this work is covered in your original contract depends upon what that contract says, and there is no way anyone who hasn't seen it can answer one way or the other.
But if opposing the petition isn't covered and it involves a somewhat difficult argument, $20,000 is probably a reasonable fee. The same is true if this is indeed an appeal rather than a writ petition. I would need to know more about the case before I could be any more specific about the reasonableness of the fee.
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