Divorce lawyer - is this normal?

[Opol]

I’m going through an extremely messy divorce. We’re talking hidden assets, custody battles, false accusations, non payment of school fees etc. You name it.

My lawyer is roughly £600. So far I’ve paid him roughly £10k for his time as he’s had to respond to all the legal correspondence I’ve had from Ex.

We’re going to need to bring in an accountant in at some point but that’s a headache for another day.

I just feel really harassed regarding payment chasing. He’ll do some work then immediately demand payment for that “chunk”. I appreciate that I have to pay him for his work but it’s unbearable to be constantly harangued. Over the past month he’s said I need to do x, he does it and then immediately he’s emailing me twice daily. This has happened 3/4 times. I have paid him within a few days of each bit of work thus far.

He’s fully aware of my financial situation obviously. I’m up to date with payments never really messed him around but I feel like I’m constantly being shaken down.

My parents are having to help me as ex has emptied accounts. I will obviously pay back when divorce is finalised.

Had another email this week for payment for UPCOMING work.

I’m sick with worry.

Just a random thought but if there is financial shenanigans - would it be more cost effective to hire a forensic accountant for missing funds and have the lawyer on retainer until you are on more solid ground with what is going on? I know from my own divorce how much the emails and letters add up and if your ex is not playing fair, they could just string it out. Lawyers are the only people who truly benefit from contentious divorces. Good luck!

This!

Two things:

• any out of pocket costs (court fees / barristers fees / forensic accountants fees etc etc) must be paid in full before the solicitor can use them. Are some of these costs OOPs? It’s entirely standard / reasonable for work to halt if these haven’t been paid
• his rate is presumably £500 plus VAT. That’s not outrageous at all (whoever said corporate lawyers charge less isn’t using a major firm- that’s a senior associate rate at best)

if there is proper money involved, have you discussed litigation funding?

That is precisely why he wants money on account. If you can’t afford him, there’s a risk that he won’t get paid for his work.

Lots of clients run up invoices they can’t afford to pay and then it gets very messy.

You either need to find a cheaper solicitor or reach an alternative agreement with him about how you will guarantee payment (eg through a charge on your property).

That is ridiculous. Of course he wants to be paid, like anyone else selling services or goods. He can also want the best outcome for you and have your interests at heart.

Would you work for free?

I haven't read all the replies but this isn't standard in Ireland.

Usually you pay a significant retainer in family law proceedings, like €5k. They or

Do you have a letter of engagement from your lawyer? Does it set out his terms and conditions? You should and it should. £600 is expensive; he should be very professional.

Sorry posted in error.

They set out the basis on which fees are calculated but are not allowed to give a specific fee.

There are typical stages in the divorce proceedings, and costs can be estimated for these.

The bulk of legal fees are paid after settlement, and are usually in the order of €30 - €60k (of course much higher in cases of HNW individuals or where it goes to the High Court).

Above is based on anecdotal experience & my own of getting divorced.

My solicitors were shocking. But what you describe is dreadful & seems unworkable.

Well it’s not how mine did it. I paid a lump sum up front, then when that was used up I paid another one. When the work was concluded we settled up with a final bill which was actually a payment to me as the final lump sum was not all used up. Your lawyers way sounds very stressful at an already stressful time.

Hi OP as a lawyer and former family lawyer we always asked for money on account first, that is a certain amount up front to cover initial costs, usually upto completing Form E. After that we’d bill monthly unless we had to pay for disbursements upfront like the accountant example. It doesn’t make sense for the lawyer to be emailing you after every letter sent/received, it just stresses you out and creates work for him. Can you ask him if you can pay monthly. Even monthly in advance to stop the daily chasing?

I would move to a reputable, larger legal firm with specialists in family law. You have a high value divorce and you are being advised by one man who no doubt does a whole range of more general things. At £600 an hour he saw you coming, I think, sorry.

You should have had a letter at the start with the terms and conditions of payment. It’s not usual to pay per item of work. When I was going through legal stuff for divorce, I was invoiced quarterly and paid a monthly standing order to make sure it would be covered.
This was before the pandemic but I paid £250 an hour plus VAT. I would not pay another penny or instruct him any further until you have taken a second opinion from someone working in a proper legal firm with a family law specialism.

my other advice is to take a step back and consider whether what you are arguing about is really worth spending so much money on. Have you been to mediation to work out what you actually agree on? It is cheaper than exchanging lawyer’s letters. Stop asking your parents to finance this - £600 an hour to a one man outfit is a reckless waste of their money, I am sorry I know that sounds harsh, but this is not the best way forward for you or your DC.

*sorry that should have said it is not usual to be billed per item of work - of course you have to pay for each item, just not usually daily.

Have you filed for maintenance pending suit yet? That might help your money situation going forward. Otherwise to get around your immediate problem, you need to pay a sum on account. I think I usually had £5-10k in the client account. It is only going to get more expensive, especially if you need a barrister. If you know he's hiding assets, you have to persevere, it turns into a very expensive game to see who blinks first I'm afraid.

All sounds a bit cowboy to me. Charging top firm prices with a one man band service. Have you seen the invoices, is he charging your £600/hr to do the admin as well, is his time split by 15mins, this should all be set out in your instruction docs. Personally I paid practically nothing up front and it all came off the pot at the end. But I did come across a fair few cowboys when I was first trying to sort representation, more than not frankly. To this day I have a horror of lawyers, it is not the noble profession they like to make it out to be.

If you've not filed in court yet for any of the hearings its still early days so if you dont like and dont trust him I would start looking for someone else. In the meantime you can instruct him not to do any work on your file and forward any correspondence to you, and you can decide if its worth replying to. Honestly not much is worth replying to unless you have purpose for it, dont jump to his tune.

Have you looked at a maintenance pending suit claim? If you're not coping and he is not being fair then I would get onto that in the first instance. Shouldn't be up to your parents to be funding his kids if circumstances you both agreed to mean you cant at the moment.