Legal Question in Legal Ethics in New York

Re: reasonable atty. fees

You do not give very much information about this matter, so I am guessing at some of the facts involved, hence you must take the following as a discussion of general principles only, not necessarily applicable to your specific situation.

You do not say what the nature of the matter is for which the lawyer is threatening to sue you; it sounds as if you did not retain the lawyer to represent you, but rather, that you and the lawyer entered into a business agreement of some type. If that is the case, then general principles of contract law will govern the dispute, and frequently, in our system, there is no statute which authorizes the prevailing party to obtain legal fees from the non-prevailing party. The fact that one party is a lawyer will not necessarily change the decision of a court to award legal fees. When you signed this contract with the lawyer, did you have separate counsel to represent you? Was the lawyer acting as your lawyer in this transaction? If so, that would be a conflict of interest, which you might consider reporting to the disciplinary committee. Is the lawyer related to you? Had the lawyer represented you in other matters beforehand?

If you had retained the attorney to represent you, the answer to your question would depend in part upon whether or not there was a written fee agreement which discusses attorney's fees to which the lawyer is entitled. If the attorney did the work which s/he was hired to do, the attorney is entitled to payment, even if the outcome of the matter was not what you had hoped for.

Assuming that a court decides to grant legal fees to a lawyer, generally speaking there are many factors which a court will look at in order to determine what is a reasonable legal fee. In New York these factors include:

time and labor required, the difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill required to handle the problems presented; the lawyer's experience, ability and reputation; the amount involved and benefit resulting to the client from the services; the customary fee for similar services; the contingency or certainty of compensation; the results obtained; and the responsibility involved (see Matter of Potts, 213 App. Div. 59, 62, affd. 241 N. Y. 593; Code of Professional Responsibility EC 2-18; Canons of Professional Ethics, canon 12; Ann., Attorney Compensation -- Amount, 56 ALR 2d 13, 20-50.

Without further information I cannot answer your question more specifically, except to see that in a dispute between a client and a lawyer, you can ask for mediation, at least here in New York City. You might call your local bar association and ask if there is such a program in your county.

Christina Kallas Esq.

5009 Broadway, Suite 604

New York, NY 10034

(212) 569-5779 Voice

(212) 569-7294 Fax

Re: reasonable atty. fees

Unfortunately the law does not specify exactly what are "reasonable" fees. They could merely be interpreted to be an hourly rate (regular for the attorney or, possibly, reduced from his standard). Since the lawyer has threatened suit, it appears you and he have not agreed upon what is reasonable in your situation. It is not unethical for an attorney to commence suit for the collection of fees due him and remaining unpaid. However, he is subject to the rules set forth in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (a federal statute) which require that he give certain notices in his communications with you and, if suit is threatened, that he actually intends to initiate same. In NJ (I am not totally familiar with unique NY law), there are County Fee Arbitration Committees who mediate these types of matters, which is mandatory if the person responsible for the fees requests same. They have the right to recommend fees where the amounts are contested. You might check to see if a similar arrangement is available in your location.

Walter