How Do Lawyers keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?

Lawyers in criminal cases must know that many of whom they represent are going to lose, and likely aren’t of the kind of financial composure - or won’t be when the DA gets through with them - to be able to pay a five-figure bill.

How do lawyers avoid getting stiffed? Do they adopt a tack like bail bondsmen? What if title to the house has already been signed over to the bail bondsman?

jescurious, not like I’m trying to weasel out of anything in particular… yet…

:slight_smile:
capn

I can’t speak for my colleaques, but I do get stiffed every once in a while. You do what you can to attach property, or whatever, but if said deadbeat client has no appreciable property, you’re basically SOOL.

You do realise they can sue like any other creditor?
With the added advantage that they can represent themselves?

Also, they might choose to represent mostly clients they think can pay?

It’s not a problem of suing, but rather of collection. You can obtain judgments until the cows come home, but you’ve only wasted time and money if your deadbeat client doesn’t have a job or own property that you can attach. This is what’s known as being “judgment proof”.

Mrs hawthorne is a barrister here in Australia. Traditionally barristers were not allowed to sue for their fees and they cannot choose which clients to represent. You could however always insist on funds being deposited in trust before proceeding.

In private practice, you are permitted to demand a retainer. This means that the client pays you up front, and the money goes into the escrow account, an account kept scrupulously separate from your office and personal money. You may then pay yourself out of the retainer whatever hours and hourly rate you bill.

So you tell your client that you want a retainer of $15,000 to be billed at $200 per hour plus $100 additional per hour of courtroom time. If you end up getting your guy off after a prelimary hearing and a couple of phone calls to the Coomwealth’s Attorney, then you must return the balance of the retainer.

Of course, if you get halfway into the case and the retainer runs dry, you may not have any luck withdrawing from the case, even if it looks like you’re not going to get paid. But like any creditor, you can sue, get a judgement, and go after the guy’s property.

  • Rick

Non-paying clients was probably the most significant economic issue facing lawyers in the mid- to late- nineties. Several partners at the firm at which I worked were booted because they had hundreds of thousands of dollars in “receivables.” It was common before that, in larger firms for lawyers to let receivables accrue because they were compensated based on billings rather than collections.

Now most business attorneys will insist upon a high retainer and keep it refreshed so that they are not extending credit to a client, unless they have a long-standing relationship.

But yes, everyone gets screwed. Especially in litigation, you can’t always stop working when the retainer runs out, and you may have to do an entire trial for a non-paying client if the judge won’t let you withdraw.

How is that different from a plumber or any other person? A lawyer is just like anyone else in that he can demand payment upfront or he can sue later if he does not get paid. . . my point is that he has an advantage over the plumber if he has to sue.

Ok. They can, but if they don’t know what they are doing, and many don’t, they can screw it up. And unlike other creditors, this creditor has provided professional services.

Number one concern in collecting legal fees: Throwing good money after bad chasing a judgment proof ex-client.

Number two concern: Malpractice counterclaims. Ouch.

The question is “How Do Lawyers keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?” and the answer is “like any other professional”. If not please explain to me:
How Do Plumbers keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Doctors keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Consultants keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Car Mechanics keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Masseurs keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Lawn Manicurists keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Photographers keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Translators keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Web Site Designers keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do Electricians keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?
How Do (insert any other occupation) keep from getting stiffed by deadbeat clients?

There are some differences that may or may not be apparent. First, the lawyer’s fees may easily amount to thousands of dollars. Now, I suppose that it’s possible for a plumber to rack up a bill like that, but perhaps less common. I want to tell you from personal experience that if “Mr. Brown” fails to make payment to me on his $25,000 bill, that hurts. A lot.

Second, for whatever reason, a person who scrupulously pays his doctor may gleefully stiff his lawyer. I guess lawyers have such a shitty reputation that many people don’t even attach a moral stigma to welshing on their legal debts.

As far as bankruptcies go, IIRC attorney’s fees are at the top of the list of creditors who get paid. That’s just one specific situation, though.

In civil matters, if the client racks up large unpaid bills, there isn’t the same prohibition about dropping the case, correct? The reason a lawyer has trouble backing out of a criminal case is because of the defendant’s right to effective counsel, which would be compromised by a change of lawyers in the middle of a trial, but no such impediment exists in civil matters, yes?

It depends on the facts and the judge. Once you appear in a case, you need the judge’s permision to withdraw. If trial is looming, or the case is complex, or the client has switched lawyers several times already, the judge may not let you out.

Attorney’s fees incurred by the bankruptcy lawyers and lawyers appointed by the court to represent the debtor in bankruptcy related matters, yes. Attorneys with fees that predated the filing of the petition stand in line with all other unsecured creditors.

In criminal cases? I would think the majority of folks that can’t put a good lawyer on retainer would either get a public defender or go through something like Legal Aid. There may also be a small percentage of defendants who can somehow compel an attorney to do pro bono work – perhaps for a politically-charged, high profile case (i.e. Rodney King).

Exactly. First rule of criminal law: Get paid first.

I knew that, really. Thank you for clarifying my sloppy construction.

As has been alluded to, I don’t know of any other group who can be compelled by law to keep working for someone who has stiffed them (in a civil or criminal litigation matter) – withdrawal as counsel is, as far as I know, completely discretionary to the court; and the lawyers are limited in how hard they can fight (or how badly they can paint their client in arguing for withdrawal) by their ethical obligations not to completely queer the pitch for the client’s case.

Try stiffing your web site designer or masseur and see if you can get a court order requiring them to design ten more websites, or give you massages for the next, oh, two-three years, all gratis.

In civil litigation, depending on the state, assuming the client is the prevailing party, the attorney can get his fees (depending on how frivolous the actions were of the non-prevailing party) from the non-prevailing party. AK, HI, and I think IL are the only ones I know who have this type of law (or some variation thereof).
(I’m not sure if there is a federal law, probably not, but it doesn’t matter too much, b/c you can bring in the applicable state law, depending on…well, a lot of things, just as long as it is reasonable)