Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York
Continued illing by firm long after the work
I hired a patent attorney firm to submit a patent for me to the examiner's office for review/approval. The attorney office asked for a $5,000.00 retainer which I sent to them. We did the work of writing and submitting the patent (I did the writing with some of their advice on inclusion/exclusion); they did the boilerplate forms and submission. After the submission they sent me a bill for $11,500.00 with very general itemization w/o detail. No previous notification of billing amount or that a bill was being accumulated. To the contrary: was told that the bill would be held around $5,000.00. The Partner I worked with and made the agreement with left the firm. I then paid an additional $3,000.00 bc I am worried about my credit rating. The firm is pressing me for the remaining $3500.00. This seems like a scam. Am I liable for the remainder?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Continued illing by firm long after the work
Disputes of attorney fees in civil (non-criminal) cases such as yours
are required by New York law to be submitted to arbitration by arbitrators appointed from various New York lawyers' associations. The applicable law requiring that legal fee disputes be resolved by arbitration is 22 NYCRR Part 137, the procedures are detailed therein. (NYCRR is the New York State Codes Rules And Regulations).
You may find more details on the New York State courts' website and on the New York State Bar Association's website.
Note that New York law requires a written retainer agreement or written "letter of engagement" signed by yourself for the law firm to be able to enforce attorney fees larger than $3,000. The applicable section of the law is referenced by 22 NYCRR Part 1215.
On the facts you have provided, I personally think that you have a case, but I do not have experience in this type of case, and my opinion that you are in the right is not a legal opinion, merely intuitive "common sense".
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