this months bill shows a charge for a message I left and her response via email. The message only said' just waiting to here from you as you said 1 week ago you would contact me and haven't heard from you yet " only phrased more politely. and she responded by email, sorry I didn't get back to yet, really busy, get back to in x amount of time. that cost me 30$. I do feel nickel and dimed with this charge. Is this a justifiable expense?
Others may disagree with me but I think you were, indeed, "nickle and dimed." For a lawyer to charge you for merely trying to get the lawyer to return your calls is arrogant.
My lawyer did this sort of thing. I once emailed him once to reschedule an appointment because something came up for me, and he acknowledged it, and then later on the bill was an itemized amount for his time spent reading my email (rounded up to a minimum six minute increment) and his time spent responding to it (again, rounded up). They don't tell you when you hire them, or at least mine didn't, that this is how it works. I don't think they all do this though, and it's one of many reasons I don't recommend the lawyer I had to anyone.
So yes, this is normal billing behaviour for lawyers, no matter how the rest of the world operates. In NO other profession are the costs of doing business passed so directly onto the client. Except maybe the dentist; mine charges a fee for missed appointments. But certainly the hair salon does not charge you to simply reschedule!
The legal profession is the opposite of real estate. Your real estate agent only gets paid when the house sells, and it's a percent commission. It doesn't matter how many hours of work she put in, and if you take your house of the market after months, they get paid nothing! If the house was in saleable condition when you started and sells instantly the first day on the market, they get paid the same as an agent who had to really work hard! But your lawyer takes thousands of dollars of your money even before starting any work, and keeps it that way. If you lose your case horribly, they still get paid.
It's hard to know if you're getting your money's worth with your lawyer. I got through my whole divorce for what you've already paid, but we had most of a separation agreement done already through mediation, which was way more reasonably priced. Ask around other lawyers for their billing practices and see if you can find one who is a better fit. Unfortunately, you'll be spending extra money for them to get up to speed, and in my experience, this includes redoing everything the previous lawyer did because it was "wrong." My lawyer really tried to redo the mediated separation agreement from scratch. I learned more from this forum, for free, about the meaning of many things in the agreement, than I did from my lawyer.
Unfortunately, as noted here, the first thing you prep with a divorce lawyer is your financial statement, so they know EXACTLY how much they can milk you for during the process. When you hire a contractor, you just tell him your budget, for example, not your entire financial picture so he knows how much he can go over budget.
