Question on Billing

[dms5]

In New York... is an attorney required to bill every 60 days by law, and if so what law?

I requested an itemized bill and some copies from my file back in January.. After his answers and basically no copies, I suspected that he would hit me with a big bill if I dismissed him, and hold my file hostage.. and that's what he did...

TIA of your reply..

 

[charlesesq]

In New York... is an attorney required to bill every 60 days by law, and if so what law?

I requested an itemized bill and some copies from my file back in January.. After his answers and basically no copies, I suspected that he would hit me with a big bill if I dismissed him, and hold my file hostage.. and that's what he did...

There is no billing law regarding days. Any good attorney doesn't do what he did to you because he won't get paid and there is always the ability to complain to the bar. Managing expectations is huge part of any service based business. I guess the real question here is whether the bill was justified and whether you should have known it was coming. For example, if the attorney told you a project was 40 hours work and gave you the hourly fee, is it a surprise if he did 41 hours worth of work? Without more, I'm not sure whether you have a bona fide complaint other than being upset, and understandably, that the attorney didn't remind you of what to expect. Holding your file hostage is not really a good solution and hopefully you can work things out without having to move them forward elsewhere. Good luck.