How Much are Attorney’s Fees in Divorce Cases?

Getting divorced can be very stressful.  Among the many issues you will have to deal with is payment of attorney’s fees.  Prospective clients frequently ask us how much they can expect to spend.  The answer is rarely simple.

We are currently billing our time on family law matters at $300 per hour.  At our initial meeting, we will request an advance payment retainer which is the minimum amount you can expect to spend.  Depending on the complexity of the situation and the issues involved, we normally request anywhere from $1000 to $5000 up front.  We then bill our time against the initial retainer.  Once the initial retainer is used up, you are expected to pay monthly invoices for ongoing work.

Many of our clients are able to wrap up their case for not more than a few thousand dollars in attorney’s fees, usually for cases where there are no children involved or there are minimal assets to split up or where the parties have reached agreement on all material issues before going to court.  We have other clients who have run up legal bills many times that size, usually because a case drags out for many years or becomes highly contentious.  Our clients must always evaluate their desire to win a case or particular issue against the cost of obtaining that victory.

We strive to keep our client’s bills as low as possible but there are many factors out of our control.  The cooperation level of your spouse and their attorney will have a big impact on how much you spend.  The amount of time and access to our attorneys required by you will also affect your billing.  Clients will sometime present us with a case which they believe to be fairly simple and straight forward.  Unanticipated issues or fights often make the case more complex and time consuming, and thus more expensive, than first thought.

We understand that our services are costly and are willing to make reasonable arrangements for payment over time if needed.  However, we will not continue on a case if our client makes no effort to timely pay our invoices or provide any assurance of payment for future requested work. 

If you are contemplating getting divorced and would like to discuss how much you can expect it to cost, feel free to contact us at (847) 599-9101.

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