Your Georgia divorce lawyer’s fee must be reasonable and cannot depend on getting divorced or on the amount of alimony or support.
What the Rules Require
Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(a) bars “an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses.” Rule 1.5(b) requires the scope of the work and the basis or rate of the fee and expenses to be communicated to you, “preferably in writing,” unless you are a regular client charged on the same basis. Rule 1.5’s comment adds that a lawyer “may require advance payment of a fee, but is obliged to return any unearned portion.”
No Fee Tied to the Divorce or Support
Rule 1.5(d)(1) forbids “any fee in a domestic relations matter, the payment or amount of which is contingent upon the securing of a divorce or upon the amount of alimony or support, or property settlement in lieu thereof.” Its comment says the rule does not bar a contingent fee to collect “post-judgment balances due under support, alimony or other financial orders.”
The Contract Binds You
In Browning v. Alan Mullinax & Associates, 288 Ga. App. 43 (2007), a domestic relations client who agreed in writing to $250 an hour refused to pay the balance, faulting her lawyer’s use of the evidence. The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the firm, because she offered no competent evidence the services were “wholly or partially without value.”
A Fee Award Counts Toward Your Bill
Our fee-award posts cover when a judge can make your spouse contribute. In Dickey v. Mingledorff, 110 Ga. App. 454 (1964), a client gave her divorce lawyers notes for $10,000, was awarded $3,000 in fees in the divorce, and refused to pay. She did not answer their suit; the trial court allowed only $2,000 more. The Court of Appeals reversed with direction: the notes fixed the fee, so she owed the amount sued for less the $3,000, which was “to be used in paying the plaintiffs the contracted amount for their services.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!