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It's been fairly manic here sorting out various things.
As a result of one meeting, today's heartfelt peeve is;
Lawyer's fees.
During my mom's estate--the lawyer fees were horrendous! Lawyers make their money built on conflict! 40.00 to just talk to the paralegal every time you call! and they did most of the work!!
I don't begrudge someone to make good money in their chosen profession, but when there is no heart in that profession other than gouging clients.....then it becomes sad. Lots of doctors are like this also.
I believe the Bible in that 'the love of money' GREED....is the root of all evil. It has near about destroyed our society.
They can be outrageous. That being said, I will say after having been married to one *who hated those who overcharged), that shopping around and getting quotations is really important. Sometimes quite alot of the work is done by paralegals (in this part of the world simple estates and real estate matters). I would not use a lawyer who would not break his/her pricing down for me, anymore than I would use the services of any other professional.
When I was going through training to be an investigator, we were required to read a book called "Lawyers and Other Reptiles".
It's a frustrating cycle... we pay lawyers to help us navigate our way through laws written by lawyers and written in such a way that only lawyers can interpret it!
When we were buying our current house we had a problem with getting the power lines buried. There was an appointment made and the lines weren't buried, twice. I finally called and was told there was building material in the yard and they only trench and bury, they don't clean up. Fine by me, but why wasn't I told this before? I did make two appointments. In addition the builder should have known and cleaned it up.
I cleaned up the mess but it started raining that afternoon and rained continuously for days. The yard was a mud hole since the sod wasn't laid yet. As a result the cable wasn't buried and we couldn't close on our loan.
Our builder told us he wouldn't let us into the house without a signed loan agreement from the bank. I politely informed him that we would have had it if his company had done their job and cleared the material out of the yard.
His solution to the problem was to have us move all our belongings to storage and live in a hotel until the issue was resolved, at our expense. Our realtor (sister-in-law ) took the side of the builder.
I called the first real estate lawyer in the yellow pages and explained it to him. He got the phone numbers and called both the builder and my SIL. He called back in about ten minutes and told me we would be moving in on our previously agreed to date that was in the contract.
When I asked how how much we owed him he said, "Nothing. I haven't had that much fun in years."
Our SIL had the nerve to call me and tell me we didn't need to drag a lawyer into it. Really? You dumped us for the favor of a builder.
That's my kind of lawyer.
The one that advised me on starting a business did the same thing. Half an hour on the phone - no charge. Of course he did make plenty later, but still...
Many years ago, I was in a lawyers office discussing an eye watering bill I had received
with his secretary. He came sauntering in, and gave me a big smile. I looked back and
said "what do you call a plane crash with 200 lawyers on board all killed?" What" he asked.
"A start" I replied. He had the good grace to laugh.
I don't want to tar all lawyers with the same brush. A very good friend of mine who died last year was an excellent solicitor doing great work for the local community.
I was shocked at the cost of probate after a meeting yesterday though.
Last edited by Jezer; 10-05-2011 at 03:17 PM..
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That being said, I will say after having been married to one *who hated those who overcharged), that shopping around and getting quotations is really important. Sometimes quite alot of the work is done by paralegals (in this part of the world simple estates and real estate matters). I would not use a lawyer who would not break his/her pricing down for me, anymore than I would use the services of any other professional.
