Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

In a highly contested Atlanta divorce, the costs can rise quickly. Since most contested Atlanta divorces involve situations that can change on a moment’s notice, Atlanta divorce lawyers often have to make quick decisions in order to protect a client’s interest. In certain situations, the Atlanta divorce lawyer has not had the opportunity to discuss the situation with the client ahead of time. In other situations, your Atlanta divorce lawyer may have had support staff working on your file behind the scenes to keep your case moving forward in a timely fashion.

What the above scenarios sometimes result in is a client receiving a bill that they do not understand and are hesitant to pay. In any scenario where you may have a question about a bill, you need to either call or meet with your Atlanta divorce lawyer to candidly speak with him or her about the bill. If you receive a bill that has some charges that appear high, do not call and say that the bill is too high. Contact your Atlanta divorce lawyer to ask him or her about the specific charges that you have questions concerning and why you have those questions. Often, there is a very reasonable explanation for the charges. Sometimes it is a simple billing error that the Atlanta divorce lawyer can quickly correct.

Aside from the obvious reasons why it is important to discuss the invoice with your lawyer, you do not want to lose trust in your lawyer. You may reach a point in your case where a very good settlement offer is made by your spouse. Your lawyer may tell you to take it because he or she knows you would never do better with the Judge you have in your case. If you do not trust your lawyer, you may reject the offer and try your case, only to receive a worse result in front of the Judge and potentially be open to attorney’s fees from your spouse for rejecting a good settlement offer.

One last note to make about communicating with your Atlanta divorce lawyer regarding fees is do not ignore an invoice that you cannot pay. If you are struggling with the invoice, immediately contact your Atlanta divorce lawyer and be honest. Tell him or her your situation and discuss what can be done to deal with the ongoing costs going forward. Pay whatever you can on the invoice as soon as possible and perhaps change your litigation strategy so that you do not spend your children’s college education in a contested divorce case.

On May 4, 2009, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the ruling in the Atlanta Divorce case of Patel v. Patel (S09F0505), which denied the Wife an award of attorney’s fees. In a Georgia divorce, a trial court can, after considering the financial circumstances of the parties, award attorney fees to one party in order to "ensure effective representation of both spouses so that all issues can be fully and fairly resolved." Essentially, the Court wants to make sure that there is a level playing field for both parties, keeping one party from gaining an unfair advantage over the other.

In this Atlanta divorce, the parties had been married for 22 years. The Husband was a doctor with his own medical practice, and the Wife had been a stay at home mom. The evidence presented to the Fulton County divorce judge showed that both parties had used marital resources to pay for their attorney’s fees in their divorce. The Court found both parties had been adequately represented, and thus the trial judge did not award the Wife attorney’s fees.

Since the Fulton County divorce judge had considered the respective financial conditions of the parties, she did not abuse her discretion in denying attorney’s fees. In other words, the Wife’s lawyer had already been paid with resources from the parties’ marital estate. Her request for attorney’s fees was essentially asking for additional money from Husband even though her attorney’s fees had already been paid.

According to O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2, you can be awarded attorney’s fees in a divorce, but the award of attorney’s fees is ultimately decided by the judge assigned in your case. After the judge hears testimony from both you and your spouse, he or she will look at the facts of the case and base his or her decision on one factor – the financial circumstances of both parties in a divorce. O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2(a)(1). This is similar to the award of alimony in a divorce case because the judge will look at both parties’ incomes and decide on one party’s ability or inability to pay attorney’s fees and the other party’s need for attorney’s fees. Even though you may ask for attorney’s fees, there is no guarantee that the judge will actually grant attorney’s fees in your case.

If the judge awards attorney’s fees in your divorce, the judge will sign a Final Order showing the amount of attorney’s fees that your spouse is required to pay. One of the disadvantages about the judge awarding attorney’s fees in your case is that amount of attorney’s fees that the judge awards in his Final Order may or may not reflect the total amount of attorney’s fees that you incurred in your divorce according to § 19-6-2(a)(2). The judge could actually award an amount less than what you incurred.

When the judge is determining the amount of attorney’s fees, he or she may look at several factors. The judge may review the invoices from both you and your spouse’s attorneys and determine if the amount that you incurred is fair. When reviewing the invoices, the judge may look at the hourly rates of staff at your law firm, such as the attorney, associate attorney, and/or paralegal working on your case, as well as the charges that you incurred as compared to those hourly rates and charges that your spouse incurred from the opposing law firm. As we mentioned previously in this blog, it is difficult to determine whether someone will be awarded attorney’s fees since the award is based on the sole discretion of the judge and because each divorce case and each judge is different, it is difficult to determine whether he or she will award attorney’s fees in your particular divorce case.

The exact statutory authorization for attorney’s fees under the Official Code of Georgia is:

Continue reading "Attorneys Fees in a Georgia Divorce under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2 " »

Depending on where you reside in Metropolitan Atlanta, you will sometimes see billboards on the side of the highway or you may walk through the mall and see a full size advertisement on the store directory for attorneys charging $500 for uncontested divorces. On occasion, we will receive a call from someone who is looking to hire an attorney to see if we charge a flat fee. There are certain areas of the law where an attorney will either charge one fee upfront and it will cover all of the work performed on a file or on a contingency basis where the attorney will get paid or reimbursed for all filing fees and work performed on the case after the case is finished, such as a personal injury case. Divorce cases, however, do fall into either of these categories. Unlike with other types of matters, there is no way to estimate the total amount of time that is spent on a divorce case since the amount of time varies from case to case. Like a human fingerprint, each divorce case is unique and no two are alike.

In divorce cases, law firms generally bill their client on an hourly basis. Before the attorney begins working on a client’s case, however, the attorney requires their client to sign a fee agreement and pay a retainer fee. The fee agreement is a written contract between the client and his or her attorney and explains in detail what the client can expect from their attorney. The fee agreement will list services the attorney will provide, such as the preparation of any pleadings, the amount of the retainer, the hourly rate at which he or she is billed, and any additional costs, such as filing fees, courier fees, and travel costs. It is very important that you carefully read the fee agreement before you sign it. Sometimes when the client receives their first invoice, they do not realize that their attorney charges for all telephone calls and e-mail correspondence. Any time that you speak with your attorney, they are going to charge you for the time that they spent speaking with you or responding to your e-mail.

When you sign the fee agreement, you will also pay a retainer fee to the attorney. The retainer fee is a lump sum payment that you pay up front to your attorney to secure their services. It is similar to a security deposit that you make to an apartment complex or earnest money that you pay to the seller when purchasing a house. When your attorney or one of their staff performs any work on your file, they will bill off of this retainer. The retainer payment is NOT a flat fee and you will receive a bill for any additional time and money that the law firm spends on your file. In the fee agreement, law firms also charge a replenishing retainer. Once the amount of money left in your retainer gets below a certain amount, the law firm requires that you replenish your retainer to cover any work performed on your case. There is not set amount for the retainer in a divorce case. Each case is different. If you would like our law firm to quote you a retainer fee, you will need to speak with either one of our attorneys. They can quote you a reasonable retainer based on the facts of your case. In addition, the unused portion of your retainer is fully refundable. If there are any monies remaining in your retainer at the end of your case.

The Georgia Supreme Court issued an order today in Pineres v. George, S08A0773, which has several implications for Georgia law. First, it held that a trial judge has no authority in a contempt proceeding to modify the obligations imposed by a divorce decree. Second, the Georgia Supreme Court held that medical expenses constitute a form a child support.

Of note in this case, the modification being sought was in regards to the psychological expenses for the minor child and there had previously been a petition for modification of child support made less than two years ago. Because Georgia law prohibits a modification of child support less than two years after an order on a previous modification petition by the same spouse, it upheld an awarded of frivolous litigation fees under O.C.G.A. § 9-15-14 against the spouse that was now seeking to modify the amount of medical expenses that they had to pay.