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As a bit of background, my boss is a nice guy, sympathetic and always, always, tends to give people a break on their fees, especially if their case is something that will run on the pricey side. I've seen him discount bills, not charge for time he spent, etc., just because he feels bad for someone. And he's not a wealthy man, either. He's a sole practitioner in a small town. Some months, we have to scrape to meet the office expenses. Anyway, here's two stories from just this past week:
I'm not paying, but I want you to do more work for me!
Had a client come in in November, needed to file for bankruptcy because they were behind on their mortgage and car payments. The normal fee for that kind of case is 2,000.00 plus costs (and you won't find it cheaper anywhere!). His policy is 1/2 up front and the rest to be paid through your bankruptcy plan. These people said they couldn't come up with that much, so he allowed them to pay the filing fees only and agreed to file their case with the understanding that they would pay the 1,000.00 by the end of December (this was the client's proposal).
After weeks of having to chase them down, they still, today, owe $500.00 on the original agreement. So the client calls up in January and says she got served with a bad check charge and wants my boss to "handle" it for her. He told her that he couldn't commit to taking on more work for them until they paid what they owed. So this week, still not having paid, the wench calls and says she's not paying and they don't want him to represent them anymore because his refusal to "help" her with the criminal matter "cost her hundreds of dollars!". Hello, what do you think you're doing, you entitlement whore???
Running up a bill and taking off
Another client with a divorce that has dragged on for well over a year has been carrying a 900.00 balance since last fall, awaiting a decision on his case. We finally get the decision last week and he says he wants to file an appeal. We prepare the paperwork and then, 3 days later, get a letter from another attorney saying he wants us to withdraw from his case and that he's going to represent the client. The only good part is that we're under no obligation to withdraw or turn over the file until the bill is paid, which is now over $1,000.00. Best part though, is that the appeal is due Monday and the client hasn't given us the rest of the information we need and so it's not going to happen. Sucks to be you, but you shouldn't have tried to be sneaky and run up a huge bill and then think you're going to just slink away to someone else and not pay.
I hate the deadbeats with the entitlement attitude worse than anyone else!
I'm not paying, but I want you to do more work for me!
Had a client come in in November, needed to file for bankruptcy because they were behind on their mortgage and car payments. The normal fee for that kind of case is 2,000.00 plus costs (and you won't find it cheaper anywhere!). His policy is 1/2 up front and the rest to be paid through your bankruptcy plan. These people said they couldn't come up with that much, so he allowed them to pay the filing fees only and agreed to file their case with the understanding that they would pay the 1,000.00 by the end of December (this was the client's proposal).
After weeks of having to chase them down, they still, today, owe $500.00 on the original agreement. So the client calls up in January and says she got served with a bad check charge and wants my boss to "handle" it for her. He told her that he couldn't commit to taking on more work for them until they paid what they owed. So this week, still not having paid, the wench calls and says she's not paying and they don't want him to represent them anymore because his refusal to "help" her with the criminal matter "cost her hundreds of dollars!". Hello, what do you think you're doing, you entitlement whore???
Running up a bill and taking off
Another client with a divorce that has dragged on for well over a year has been carrying a 900.00 balance since last fall, awaiting a decision on his case. We finally get the decision last week and he says he wants to file an appeal. We prepare the paperwork and then, 3 days later, get a letter from another attorney saying he wants us to withdraw from his case and that he's going to represent the client. The only good part is that we're under no obligation to withdraw or turn over the file until the bill is paid, which is now over $1,000.00. Best part though, is that the appeal is due Monday and the client hasn't given us the rest of the information we need and so it's not going to happen. Sucks to be you, but you shouldn't have tried to be sneaky and run up a huge bill and then think you're going to just slink away to someone else and not pay.
I hate the deadbeats with the entitlement attitude worse than anyone else!
(forgive my ignorance if that came off as very rude. I have never worked in a law office, so I may again be falling prey to stereotyping)
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