attorney never disclosed charge...yet billed

[bj501]

I was considering a new business in israel and felt i needed an attorney to help out creating company.

After emailing a bunch about their qualifications, and fees for doing the paperwork, i selected several that i hoped to meet in person and get a better feel if we could work together before choosing one. i met with them all and just chatted about general stuff, i left them all saying i would consider them and let them know what i decide about the business and using their services.

it was all very informal and mainly a meet and greet. one attorney met me in a coffee shop for 25 minutes or so and we chatted very informally. now 6 weeks later i have received a bill for $500. Never once did he even intimate that i would be charged for a simple meet and greet. None of the others i met would even consider charging for the meetings we had and i am stunned that this one would.

i am extremely upset that he can get away with this. arent there laws about this. shouldnt he have told me ahead of time that he would bill me for the chat or that there was a fee even for a simple hello meeting. i never hired him or asked him to do anything. i tould him i wasnt even sure i was going to open the business and as things eveolved i would let him know where it all stood and if i would use him.

i have all the email correspondences since i am in usa and he is in israel and nowhere does he ever state that our coffee was to be a charged meeting. the only fee ever stated to me was to create the paperwork to open a corporation, which i never did.

please offer me some advice.

 

[dee_dub]

It might be brazenly bad business to charge a potential client like that, but lawyers bill by the hour and charge to talk to people. Don't sound so surprised.

If you object to the bill, ask for an itemized statement of account, deny receiving any benefit, and don't pay it. But don't be surprised if the kind of lawyer who would bill you for this also commences proceedings to collect on it.

 

[bj501]

if i was told that he was going to charge me from the initial introduction then i could have easily said no thanks. isnt he obligated to notify me when he is going to bill and when he isnt.

 

[dee_dub]

That depends on the law and legal code of conduct of the jurisdiction. There is no general requirement that he advise you you are on the clock. Assuming you had no retainer agreement, the lawyer would be entitled to a reasonable legal fee, whatever that might be, in many American jurisdictions. I don't know what the situation is in Israel.