Montgomery, Alabama Attorney Explains How to Reduce Legal Fees

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Jan. 9, 2014 - PRLog -- More so than any other profession, lawyers are associated with charging exorbitantly high fees.  There are several factors that lead to this impression.  First of all, legal representation is in fact expensive.  The legal profession demands extensive education, maintenance of credentials, a professional image, and a devotion of much of one's waking hours to the service of others who are usually involved in a hostile situation.  The cost of healthcare expense is obviously a national topic, but few people ever think surgeons are overpaid.  That is because there is health insurance, but very few individuals have legal insurance.  Legal troubles arise before people have time to plan for them, and the cause of the legal trouble often zaps the resources needed to pay for representation.  Before clients ever receive an invoice from an attorney, they are often already involved in financially devastating conflict.  Thus, even a small bill can seem daunting.

   Another factor that leads to seemingly high attorney costs is that it is most convenient for attorney's to charge by the hour.  That is because our knowledge and advice is often our only product, and it is difficult to quantify those intangible things without charging for the time that it takes to transmit them.  Clients get a $25.00 invoice for a brief phone conversation and think that is a hefty price to pay for a quick conversation.  However, it isn't really the minutes on the telephone that are being purchased:  it is the knowledge and wisdom being conveyed to you by your attorney who spent extensive time and money gaining those things.

   With the understanding of how and why attorneys charge what they do, there are some steps that you can take to reduce your legal fees:

1.   Don't use your attorney as a therapist.  Many cases can involve emotionally charged issues that can affect your mental health.  When going through tough times, it is natural to want someone to talk to, but it will expensive if that someone is your attorney. While attorneys deal with clients going through difficult issues each day, they are not mental health professionals.  The cost for seeing a mental health professional is generally covered by medical insurance.

2.  Be organized.  You understand more about your life history, financial situation, and family than your attorney.  There will be time spent catching your attorney up on these issues.  The more time you spend before arriving at your lawyer's office organizing the information in a manner that your attorney can understand, the less your invoice will be.  Ask yourself, "If I only have $1,500.00 to spend on my attorney, would that money be better spent by the lawyer organizing a jumbled box of documents from my attic, or would I rather him spend that money crafting legal arguments on my behalf?"  Chronologically organizing and labeling documents with dividers can go a long way in reducing your legal fees.

3.  Keep a list of your questions.  Don't call your attorney every time a question for him pops into your head.  This will result in you receiving a tenth of an hour charge for every call.  Unless the question is urgent, write it down and call your lawyer with an organized list of questions.

4.  Use email.  When we speak to someone, we tend to lose track of our thoughts and get caught up in conversations about other subjects.   If you write an email to your lawyer, you can likely be more concise with your thoughts than you would be in a telephone conversation.  The email will avoid future confusion over what was actually said and will provide your lawyer with something to review as he prepares for your case.

5.  Forget about "the principle of the matter."  Countless money has been spent since the beginning of time over people arguing over the principle of the matter.  The principle of the matter does not pay the mortgage and never goes grocery shopping.  He is a loser that is worth nothing but foolish ego.  Why would someone spend time in a divorce arguing over who gets the SEE RUBY FALLS coffee mug?  Your got it, the principle of the matter.  Being a person of principle is admirable, but many times it will be better for your emotional and financial state to let an issue go.

http://www.montgomery-lawyer.com

http://www.montgomery-lawyer.com/divorce

http://www.montgomery-lawyer/adoption