You’re getting cheated. Even worse, you’re being cheated by your own lawyer.
These lawyer billing scams cost clients thousands every year—and most people don’t even realize it’s happening. The very person you trusted with your secrets might be using billing tricks to inflate your legal fees.
As an attorney, I often testify in court about what are and aren’t reasonable attorney’s fees. So let’s pull back the curtain on three common unethical billing practices and learn how to protect yourself before it’s too late.
Quarter-Hour Billing: The Classic Lawyer Billing Scam
Quarter-hour billing is a time-based billing method that, on the surface, may appear harmless. Unfortunately, this is by far one of the most widely used lawyer billing scams.
Under this approach, lawyers bill in 15-minute increments, regardless of the actual time spent on a task. While this method is convenient for tracking time, it can lead to situations where clients pay for more time than was actually worked.
For example, if an attorney reads an email or returns a brief call that takes only a couple of minutes, they may bill for a full 15-minute increment. If the attorney is billing at $300 per hour, then that 5-minute phone call costs you $75. When multiplied across many brief tasks, you may end up paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for time that wasn’t actually spent working.
An even more concerning practice occurs when attorneys combine multiple short tasks and round each one up to the nearest quarter-hour.
For instance, suppose a lawyer spends three minutes reading one email, 2 minutes drafting a quick response, and five minutes on a follow-up call.
Although these tasks collectively took ten minutes, the quarter-hour billing approach would allow the lawyer to bill 15 minutes for each task, resulting in 45 minutes billed.
This practice, which some argue is both unethical and manipulative, can significantly increase your bill. The industry standard is tenth of an hour increments, not quarter-hour increments. Tenth of an hour billing is 6-minute increments, not fifteen, which allows for more refinement.
If you’re considering an attorney who charges in quarter-hour increments, then RUN! That is a crooked attorney who will leave you and your family broke!
Unclear Flat-Fee Billing: The Ambiguity Trap
Flat-fee billing is meant to simplify legal costs.
It is meant to provide you, the client, with a clear amount upfront for legal services.
I mean, what client doesn’t want to know the exact amount of legal fees before hiring an attorney? And what attorney doesn’t want to guarantee payment up front?
Unfortunately, some attorneys exploit the ambiguity that can accompany flat fee arrangements. When the scope of work is not clearly defined, you may end up paying for services you don’t need, or you may find yourself facing additional charges when the flat fee turns out to cover far less than you expected.
For example, if an attorney quotes a flat fee for handling a divorce case, you may assume that this fee covers everything from filing paperwork to representing you in court at the final hearing.
However, without a clearly written outline of what the flat fee includes, you may later realize that court appearances, discovery, complex negotiations, or filing certain motions incur additional charges. In cases like these, you may end up paying far more than you initially budgeted.
Additionally, some lawyers may impose a flat fee without adjusting for cases that are resolved quickly, resulting in you paying ridiculously more than you would have under an hourly billing arrangement.
To avoid these lawyer billing scams, you should ask for a detailed, written, breakdown of what the flat fee covers, and make sure your attorney signs it.
This Fee Agreement should specify any potential additional fees and clarify whether adjustments will be made if the case is resolved faster than expected. This is best done by outlining the flat fee the attorney will be paid at each stage of the case and defining what those stages are.
If you’re considering an attorney who won’t put this in writing, you should get up and WALK AWAY! This lawyer billing scam will bleed you dry because they’re always asking for another fee.
Minimum Appearance Fees: Paying for Time You Don’t Get
Minimum appearance fees are common lawyer billing scams that can inflate legal costs. This type of fee is often charged for court appearances, depositions, or meetings, where attorneys bill you a minimum amount regardless of the actual time spent.
For instance, if an attorney has a minimum appearance fee of two hours for any hearing, but only spends 30 minutes in court, the client is still charged for the full two hours. This practice can be quite costly for clients in cases requiring multiple short appearances, as they may end up paying far more than the actual time warrants.
Some attorneys argue that minimum appearance fees compensate for time spent preparing for the appearance or for travel, yet these justifications can be problematic.
Preparation time, when appropriate, should be billed separately and should accurately reflect the time required. Likewise, travel expenses should be billed based on actual costs, not an inflated minimum time increment. The minimum appearance fee becomes even more questionable when clients are billed a high rate for simple procedural matters that require little preparation and no significant travel.
You can protect yourself by asking attorneys to explain their minimum appearance fee policies in detail and by requesting an estimate of potential appearance times and related costs.
Minimum appearance fees will incentivize and attorney to set unnecessary hearings that won’t take very long, but you’ll spend hundreds of dollars for them. Also, who even knows how many of those hearings they’ll set at the same time on the same docket while getting paid minimum appearance fees from every client for?
If you’re considering an attorney who insists on minimum appearance fees, thank them for their time and GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE!
Bonus Tip: How to Fight Back Against Lawyer Billing Scams
If you’re reading this and just realized that your attorney might be using one of these lawyer billing scams, schedule an appointment with them so you can discuss your bill. Then, let them know that you want to re-negotiate your Fee Agreement to modify those terms. Most written agreements state that any modifications to the agreement must be in writing. But, if there’s no written agreement, then insist on putting your fee arrangement in writing.
I’m sure you already know how to argue the facts in your favor, and don’t forget that everything is negotiable!
–Authored by Matthew L. Harris, Esq.,
Matthew Harris Law, PLLC
1101 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas, 79401-3303
Tel: (806) 702-4852 | Fax: (800) 985-9479