Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

i hired a lawyer for a case. he told me on day one that he will charge me 3500.00 dollars for the case & may be a little ( like 2 to 3 hundred ) more in case he had to get a private investigator. and he did hired an investigator and i paid that guy 466.50. the case is still in court because he had not recieved enough information from DA ,( what ever information he requested from him). The reason was that DA was having a big load of work, or something like that.we have been to 3 court dates already and 4th is set very soon. And the lawyer , after getting 3500.00 dollars + some more for making copeis and research the case etc. is still asking for more money to cover the time he is going to spend on court date . my question is that , is he right ? or, is he wrong ? or is this a common practice for every lawyer. or is he being greedy? he is asking for 800.00 more dollars, and if the case goes to another date then may be more. my thinking was that he will argue the case for the pre set amount of 3500.00 dollars, until the case gets to the verdict.


Asked on 3/22/10, 4:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
James Goff James R. Goff, Attorney at Law

Unfortunately, unless you have a written fee agreement that provides a set fee for the case it is not unusual for an initial retainer to be exhausted requiring additional fees to be required for the representation. Again, typically delays in the prosecution usually are beneficial to a defendant in a criminal matter. The witnesses may not be located and the initial anger disappears with time. You should discuss the fee situation with your attorney to pin down his estimate of a maximum amount of fees that may be required or get a written fee agreement that limits the total. If your fee situation becomes unmanageable, you may seek other counsel or a Public Defender, however, multiple changes in counsel reflects badly on your innocence. Good luck.

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Answered on 3/27/10, 1:48 pm


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