On the front page
of the November 26, 2012 edition of Massachusetts
Lawyers Weekly appears an article about a derivative suit brought against a
large law firm for racking up $1.2 million in legal fees regarding a
contemplative possible sale of a company; and it did not sound as if there was
a buyer in sight. The legal fees were accumulated by 34 lawyers billing at
rates of up to $825.00 an hour.
I have heard
leadership of state wide bar associations express concern about the growing
number of people who are representing themselves pro se in litigation, or are
turning to the omnipotent internet for legal advice. Perhaps the fear of
$825.00 per hour legal bills are scaring people away from seeking legal advice. I decided to perform an informal
investigation. Lawyers.com says
that “In rural areas and small towns, lawyers tend
to charge less, and fees in the range of $100 to $200 an hour for an
experienced attorney are probably the norm. In major metropolitan areas, the
norm is probably closer to $200 to $400 an hour.” An article in The Wall Street Journal in 2011 that
said that “A few pioneers had raised their
fees to more than $1,000 an hour about five years ago, at the peak of the
economic boom. But after the recession hit, many of the rest of the industry's
elite were hesitant, until recently, to charge more than $990 an hour.” I also found
the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report 2010-2011 published
by an Ohio law firm that concluded that on average small firm attorneys in the
northeast charge $285.00 an hour and large firms on average charge $382.00 an
hour.
I
then signed on to a well known web site that prepares legal documents. I tried
to have a deed prepared and I learned that the base price was $249.00 plus
shipping and the deed would be ready in 5 to 7 business days. Most firms around
here do not charge much more than $249.00 for a deed and would have it ready
the same day or the next day. To the credit of the web site, when I selected
that I wanted a deed prepared for the conveyance of land to a third party for
monetary consideration I was informed that they could not produce the document
and that I will have to consult with an attorney. I then shifted gears and ordered a very simple
will without real estate, without trusts and without specific bequeaths. The
charge with shipping was $71.00 and it arrived within a week. It appears to
create a valid Massachusetts self-proving will if properly executed before two
disinterested witnesses and a notary, but it has raised my intellectual
curiosity on how the preparation of a will by a non-attorney corporation is not
the unauthorized practice of law. I am sure that some brilliant people have
already solved that problem; but I also incorrectly made that assumption when I
heard Boston radio stations a few years ago broadcasting advertisements for
off-shore sports gambling.
PAUL F. ALPHEN,
ESQUIRE
BALAS, ALPHEN & SANTOS, P.C.
paul@lawbas.com
