How Do South Carolina Divorce Lawyers Charge for Services
One of the first questions that I am asked by a prospective client is, “how much is this going to cost me?” and “Can we work out payments?”.
Many people even ask this question over the telephone when they are scheduling their initial consultation to meet with me.
As a general practice, most lawyers do not quote fees until they have met with you to discuss your case because the fee quoted is based on the complexity of issues in your case and the time that the lawyer anticipates having to spend on it. Lawyers charge their fees in two main ways when it comes to representing someone in a divorce, child custody, or other family law case: hourly and flat fee billing. There are advantages and disadantages to both.
The tried and true method that most attorneys, especially attorneys who have been out practicing for a while is to charge the client an initial retainer and to bill the client on an hourly basis for the work that is completed on the case. That retainer is then placed in the attorney trust account. Then, as work is completed on the case and invoiced, the fees are withdrawn from the retainer and paid on the client’s account. Generally attorneys will have a minimum amount of money that they require the clients to keep in their trust account and they send a bill every month (or sometimes more often than that).The good thing for the lawyer is that they know they can get paid on a case.
Many divorce attorneys charge between $200 and $450 per hour depending on their experience, training, and other factors. That means that your 15 minute telephone call to check on the status of your case will cost you anywhere from $37.50 to $75. I hope you enjoyed that phone call!
Another option for billing in divorce matters is flat fee billing. Flat fee billing is where you know exactly what it is going to cost you to get your divorce up front. Generally, these fees are earned when paid so your attorney will not be billing you by the hour and you won't be entitled to a refund if the case is resolved quickly. On the other side of that coin, however, you won't be billed more if your case is more time consuming than the lawyer initially expected either. Flat fee billing means that you will know when you leave your initial consultation what your divorce is going to cost you. It may be split up into different phases of your case or it may all be due at once.
The flat fee may actually give you sticker shock when you first hear the number. It may sound like a crazy quote to handle your divorce case when you compare it to the other attorney who bills by the hour. But when you actually calculate the number of hours the attorney will most likely bill you for, along with the activities you get billed for, and the rate at which your attorney bills his divorce clients (probably $200-450 per hour), it adds up quick and you will most likely surpass the flat fee quote.
Finally, no matter which way your attorney bills, you are almost always going to be responsible for all out of pocket costs. This usually includes court filing fees, service of process fees, mediation costs, Guardian ad Litem fees, expert fees, subpoena fees, court reporter fees, and more. Some attorneys also charge for copies, credit card fees, postage, and other expenses.