This is why our flat fee model is best.
I worked at this firm for 6 months and quit when I realized rampant overbilling was happening. This can often be the case in hourly billing. The Court of Appeals agreed that Cordell and Cordell breached its contract with a former client and breached its fiduciary duty to him when it billed for work in a manner that placed the firm’s financial interests above the client’s interests.
This line in particular struck me: “ The firm worked on Gao’s case for five and a half months and charged Gao nearly $50,000 for that work .”
Unless you are Bill Gates, no divorce should cost that much.
“That evidence also included the testimony of Gao’s former lawyer that the firm had instructed him to “ think more creatively” about his cases to meet billable hour requirements , a practice that bothered the lawyer and that he thought did a disservice to the client. And that evidence included the arbitration award in which the arbitrators found that the firm had billed Gao in a manner that served the firm’s interests over those of Gao.”
Read the full opinion here:
http://opinions.dailyreportonline.com/singleOpin.asp?l=100294703575&searchKeywords=
Regina Edwards is the Owner and Managing Attorney of Edwards Family Law, an Atlanta family law and estate planning law firm she founded in 2005. With more than 21 years of experience practicing law, she is dedicated to representing clients in a wide range of legal matters, including divorce, child custody, child support, legitimation, wills, trusts, probate, and Medicaid planning.
Regina received her Juris Doctor from the Tulane School of Law and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Association. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including being named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers for six years, as well as being named among the Pro Bono All Stars by the Georgia Bar Journal in 2019.
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