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  • Who shall pay for the Trial & Lawyers' expenses

    The OCL recommendation is in my favour with full cudtody of my 8 year old daughter. She is currently residing with me and going to school. My ex is constantly harrassing my daughter and myself on the phone & text messages that she can revoke her consent given to her lawyer accepting the OCL recommendation and dispute it in the court.

    The settlement minutes are not yet drafted and signed but in progress as per my lawyer (I hope).

    If my ex diputes the OCL recommendation and take the case to trial who shall pay the court & lawyers' cost.

    Please advise.

  • #2
    Originally posted by slskz7557 View Post
    The OCL recommendation is in my favour with full cudtody of my 8 year old daughter. She is currently residing with me and going to school. My ex is constantly harrassing my daughter and myself on the phone & text messages that she can revoke her consent given to her lawyer accepting the OCL recommendation and dispute it in the court.

    The settlement minutes are not yet drafted and signed but in progress as per my lawyer (I hope).

    If my ex diputes the OCL recommendation and take the case to trial who shall pay the court & lawyers' cost.

    Please advise.
    It depends on outcome of the trial. If she will be able to do good job with testing OCL report and show it's deficiencies than she has a chance.

    Keep in mind OCL report is just "recommendations". Search forum and you will find a lot of info regarding that.

    what is gray area hear is that she agreed to it to her lawyer. But who knows what is exact details of it...

    WD

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    • #3
      You would be resposnable for your legal fee's up front.

      After a trial, costs may be awarded at the Judges' discretion, and maybe you would be awarded your legal costs. Maybe not.

      I see alot of people complain that the other side never paid the costs as directed by the Judge - so I wonder...
      Last edited by wretchedotis; 09-05-2012, 12:36 PM.

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      • #4
        Do you think her lawyer have asked her for a substantial amount of retainer before going into trial which may have brought her to this decision of not diputing the OCL recommendation at all.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by slskz7557 View Post
          Do you think her lawyer have asked her for a substantial amount of retainer before going into trial which may have brought her to this decision of not diputing the OCL recommendation at all.
          of course he/she would. 10k kind of common amount to ask from what I know.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by WorkingDAD View Post
            of course he/she would. 10k kind of common amount to ask from what I know.

            Yep that was what I was told. And that was just the retainer. Further costs likely to be added on!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by WorkingDAD View Post
              of course he/she would. 10k kind of common amount to ask from what I know.
              Highly conflicted litigant.
              Bad OCL report based on assumptions.
              17 day trial.
              8 days preparation.
              7.5 hours a day.
              Lawyer rate 265 an hour + taxes...

              (((17 + 8) * 7.5) * $265)*1.13))) = $56,146.87

              If you got costs awarded at $100 self represented. It would be... $21,187.50.

              If you have costs awarded against you and you retained a lawyer and the other party did (at the same rate) it could end up being 56,146.87 + 56,146.87 that you are out.

              If the other party has LAO Certificate you will be awarded $21,187.50 and the other party will grow new wings and file bankruptcy despite having "panel standards" for the lawyers that can accept Certificates.
              Last edited by Tayken; 09-06-2012, 12:46 PM.

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              • #8
                10k kind of common amount to ask from what I know.
                Depending on your lawyer, a retainer of 5-10k per day at trial would be standard.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by OrleansLawyer View Post
                  Depending on your lawyer, a retainer of 5-10k per day at trial would be standard.
                  can you believe what would it cost me for my 17 days trial? I agree that with good lawyer we would probably do not need 17 days but still...

                  I am still wondering what did it cost to Legal Aid (tax payers) all that nonsense what we went through...

                  Scares me...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    with good lawyer we would probably do not need 17 days
                    With good lawyers you should not need trial, period, notwithstanding certain rare situations. They are indicative of a failure on the part of at least one party to be reasonable and are, in most cases, an unconscionable waste of a family's resources. Many of the best family lawyers I know go years (hundreds of files) without seeing a trial.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by OrleansLawyer View Post
                      With good lawyers you should not need trial, period, notwithstanding certain rare situations. They are indicative of a failure on the part of at least one party to be reasonable and are, in most cases, an unconscionable waste of a family's resources. Many of the best family lawyers I know go years (hundreds of files) without seeing a trial.
                      I definatelly support that position but would you agree that you can incur $100k-200k in legal fees in 2 years with good lawyer trying to settle if another side is unreasonable (or on Legal Aid)

                      and lets be honest here - there is a lot of lawyers who instead of "reduce" conflict and try to resolve issue do exactly opposite because they gain from it. How to deal with that?

                      WD

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                      • #12
                        would you agree that you can incur $100k-200k in legal fees in 2 years with good lawyer trying to settle if another side is unreasonable (or on Legal Aid)
                        A six figure legal bill, within family law, should not occur unless the parties are extremely wealthy and there are very convoluted issues that make it worthwhile to fight over it.

                        In the event the other side is unreasonable, I submit that the job of a good (meaning both ethical and competent) lawyer would be to assist their client in taking a reasonable stance and, upon realizing that the other side will persist in acting unreasonably, forward the issue to trial as swiftly as possible. The sticker shock of trial results in a number of settlements - why pay a lawyer 25k to fight over 10k?

                        Legal aid certificates only permit a certain number of hours. Unless your lawyer is vastly outworking the other lawyer by over ten hours to one, a legal aid certificate should not push you into six figure territory.

                        there is a lot of lawyers who instead of "reduce" conflict and try to resolve issue do exactly opposite because they gain from it.
                        Without commenting on the profession, I would remark that such behavior would be one criteria separating good lawyers from bad. While it is the client's responsibility to instruct the lawyer, the lawyer has a professional responsibility to assist in reaching settlement. Enabling therapeutic litigation is unhelpful to everyone involved.

                        How to deal with that?
                        Instruct them on the tone you wish them to take. Fire them if their services are not sufficient. Therapists are far cheaper than lawyers and generally do a better job making you feel better.

                        Comment

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