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| Home > Divorce Q&A's: (sect-Other issues in divorce proceedings) > Divorce Attorney Fees | |||||
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Attorney's Fees in Divorce and Paternity CasesThe Gitlin
Law Firm, P.C., Woodstock, Illinois © 2009
Q:Do you charge for a consultation? What's your charge?A:Yes. The Gitlin Law Firm charges for a consultation. Generally, the charge for a consultation is $325. However, the charge may be more. For example, in initial divorce proceedings where there have been two priors lawyers, the minimum consultation fee for the Gitlin Law Firm is $450.
Q:Why is there a charge for your consultation?A:Some lawyers limit their consultations to an hour or less. I find that often a consultation will take more than an hour and occasionally a consultation will take about two hours. The time spent at the consultation is one reason The Gitlin Law Firm charges for its consultations. Another reason is that following the consultation, the lawyer will provide a comprehensive memo outlining what was discussed. The client of the Gitlin Law Firm is only charged for this memo if the client retains the firm. The drafting of a memo following the initial conference is an important step because often it is difficult to process all of the advice and information provided at the consultation. This also provides the opportunity for the possible new client to correct any misunderstandings as a result of the initial conference.
Q:What are your hourly rates?A:My hourly rate is $400 for traditional adversarial representation and $365 per hour for collaborative representation. The rate of the other lawyers at the Gitlin Law Firm, Jeffrey Hirsch, Stephanie Kasten, and Scott J. Farrell are at lesser hourly rates. Their rates are $325 per hour for Attorney Hirsch, $265 per hour for Attorney Kasten and $240 per hour for Attorney Farrell.
Q:How do these rates compare with the rates of other lawyers in McHenry County?A:My hourly rate is one of the highest in McHenry County for handling divorce, custody or parentage cases. It is more mainstream rate in Kane County or Lake County. Compared to other lawyers who are fellows of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, my rates are in the mainstream. The rates for my associates, Attorney Jeff Hirsch, Stephanie Kasten, and Scott Farrell are competitive with the usual hourly rate for family lawyers in McHenry County.
Q:Is it true that you get what you pay for?A:Generally. On the other hand, I know family lawyers with relatively high hourly rates who have little expertise in family law while I know other lawyers with low hourly rates who are quite competent. As a general rule I have found that lawyers with higher hourly rates are more qualified than lawyers with lower hourly rates. The experience of all the lawyers of the Gitlin Law Firm throughout their careers has been in the area of family law.
Q:I have heard about the "Leveling the Playing Field" law. Will this make it easier for me to get attorney's fees from my husband while my case is pending?A:Maybe. The “Leveling the Playing Field” law is actually a series of amendments to the Divorce Act. For an updated lecture which I recently gave to the McHenry County Bar Association, click here. * For consumers (clients) there were good and bad parts of the “Leveling the Playing Field” law. One good part of the law is that it makes it easier to obtain awards of temporary (called interim) attorney's fees. Even under the best of worlds, however, payment of interim attorney's fees may not be sufficient for a lawyer to be fully paid for his or her services. The reason is that it is often cost-prohibitive for a lawyer to go to court on multiple occasions to try to win awards of interim attorney's fees. The cost of going to court, etc., has to be considered.
Q:What about payment of attorney's fees from the other side at the end of the case? What factors does the court use in making such awards?A:Payment of attorney's fees at the conclusion of a case is now called a “contribution” petition – that is, a petition in which a party seeks a contribution from the other spouse toward their attorney's fees. Illinois divorce law now calls orders in which there is an order to pay a spouse's attorney's fees a “contribution award.” If maintenance (alimony) is awarded, the court is supposed to use the factors in the maintenance statute in determining contributions awards. If maintenance is not awarded, the court is supposed to use the factors in the property statute in determining contribution awards.
Q:How difficult is it to obtain an order for the other side to pay a party's attorney's fees?A:It depends. I have found that courts generally are fair in making contribution awards. The problem is that the law seems to anticipate that contribution awards will be made in cases that are contested. For example, the statute states that, “after proofs have been closed in the final hearing on all other issues between the parties... and before judgment is entered,” a party's contribution petition shall be heard and decided. I have found that often a party will not agree to litigate the issue of attorney's fees while agreeing to the other elements of the case. Therefore, while the law regarding contribution awards may be written in a fair manner, most cases are settled rather than tried. While in a number of settlements, a party will agree to pay a portion of his spouse's attorney's fees, in other cases I have found that a party will often pay virtually anything other than attorney's fees.
Q:What about a lawyer seeking fees from his or her own client? How has the law changed in this regard?A:The law used to provide that a lawyer could bring a petition for attorney's fees against his own client without withdrawing. The current law is now extraordinarily complex. Generally, Illinois law now requires a lawyer to withdraw before obtaining attorney's fees from his or her own client. Complicating matters further, however, is the fact that to bring a fee petition against a lawyer's own client, the former client's ability to seek a contribution award must either be litigated or this issue must be waived. Since it is not likely that a former client will waive the right to a contribution award, this means that the lawyer must generally wait at least until the conclusion of the case before obtaining an award of fees. Even more complicated is the fact that the law allows a lawyer to bring an independent cause of action, but to do so there is a waiting period of 90 days. The provisions of the divorce law regarding this independent action are also complex.
Q:What do these complicated changes to the attorney's fee law mean for a party going through a divorce?A:The assumption was that a lawyer who seeks attorney's fees has a conflict of interest against his or her own client. This conflict of interest is not presumed in other areas of law. However, because of the requirement that generally the lawyer has to withdraw before being able to obtain a fee judgment, my experience is that fewer and fewer lawyers will carry the client's account without being paid as the case progresses. While they are no formal studies of the effect of the changes in the law, I believe that to a certain degree the law has had the opposite intended effect. The law was designed to be consumer “friendly.” However, by making it much more difficult for lawyers to seek to be paid for services rendered, the changes to the law have made many more divorce lawyers insist on being paid for services rendered as a case progresses.
Q:Will the Gitlin Law Firm handle a case for enforcement of of a child support arrearage or a maintenance arrearage without a retainer?A:In certain cases where the fee is based upon a contingency, yes. Keep in mind that a family lawyer cannot handle a divorce or any other aspect of a family law case (other than collection of support or maintenance) on a contingent fee basis. A contingent fee is a fee where the lawyer is paid a a percentage of what is collected.
The Gitlin Law Firm provides the above information as a service to potential and current clients. A person's accessing the information contained in this web site, is not considered as retaining The Gitlin Law Firm for any case nor is it considered as providing legal advice. The Gitlin Law Firm cannot guarantee the outcome of any case. The Gitlin Law
Firm, P.C. Gitlin Law Firm, P.C. Updated: June 2, 2010
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