HOW TO MINIMIZE YOUR ATTORNEY’S FEES IN LAS VEGAS FAMILY COURT
To hire a Las Vegas divorce attorney for your divorce is a major financial commitment. A Las Vegas family law can cost you anywhere from $150.00 an hour to $600.00 an hour. Although a higher hourly rate does not necessarily insure of having the best family law lawyer, to a large extent, you get what you pay for. While not every divorce action necessitates extensive discovery, expert witnesses and depositions, minimal investigation is required in virtually every action.
Most lawyers charge for their services by the hour. Lawyers do not have a “product” to sell, we only have our time. There are only so many hours in a day so we have to be efficient and charge a reasonable fee for our services. There are ways how you may take efforts to minimize your attorney fees.
Keep in mind that some costs are fixed, like filing fees, no matter which lawyer you use. Additionally, some fees may be out of your attorney’s control. If a judge is late taking the bench or is slow the “clock is still running.” Each judge has his or her own set of rules which may also increase the cost of your litigation.
One of the biggest complaints levied at attorneys is that we do not return telephone calls. It has always been my goal to return telephone calls the same day, or at latest, within 24 hours of receiving any message. You must understand, however, that every client called me even twice per day and I were to take each telephone call every day, I would never have time to do the work you hired me to do. In order to minimize your frustration, let me offer some suggestions:
1. Consolidate your calls. Rather than call your attorney every time you have a question, write down your questions and unless it is an emergency, consolidate your questions into one call, rather than three or four. Most lawyers will charge you a minimum fee for any telephone conversation so you can save money by calling few times. Most attorneys do not mind taking your telephone calls whenever you have a question, but you may not like it much when you get your bill at the end of the month.
2. Whenever possible, speak with my staff. They can generally answer most nonlegal questions and you are billed less for their time than you are for mine.
3. Use email. Rather than call your attorney and not having completely thought out your question, write your question out and email it. Many lawyers charge less for an emails than telephone conversations. More important, if your lawyer doesn’t know the answer off the top of his head and have to charge you for a second call, he or she can research and email you with an appropriate answer. More important, you don’t have to try to remember what your lawyer told you or misunderstand what you were told, you have a written record.
4. Organize your documents, thoughts and promptly provide your attorney with any information or answers he or she requests. Every time an attorney has to follow up or request information a second time, it costs you money.