How to Get an Itemized Statement From a Divorce Attorney
One way you can monitor the work your divorce attorney does on your behalf is to review billing statements. Some attorneys automatically provide their clients rather generalized billing statements that do not provide detailed information on the specific time spent on a case. This type of statement is common when an attorney charges a flat fee for a divorce. Regardless of the actual fee arrangement---flat fee or hourly---a divorce lawyer is required to maintain an itemization of time spent on a case, according to the Rules of Professional Responsibility.
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Instructions
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Write a letter to your divorce attorney requesting an itemized statement. Give your divorce lawyer a deadline of seven work days from receipt of your communication to provide the information requested.
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Deliver the letter to your divorce attorney either personally or via U.S. Mail, return receipt requested.
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Prepare and send a follow-up letter to the divorce lawyer if you do not receive the requested statement within the deadline previously provided. In this letter, allow the divorce lawyer three work days from receipt of the letter to provide the itemized statement.
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Contact the local bar association if you do not receive the itemized statement from the lawyer after the second letter. Many local bar associations maintain fee dispute resolution committees to aid clients in dealing with their attorneys in regard to financial issues. The failure to provide an itemized statement is such an issue.
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Provide the bar association's fee dispute resolution committee with a copy of the letters you sent to your divorce attorney as well as any other information that you believe is relevant.
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File a formal complaint with the attorney regulatory agency in your state. The office that oversees attorneys goes by different names from state to state. However, the local bar association will provide you contact information. The attorney regulatory agency will provide you with a complaint form to complete. If the attorney does not provide you an itemized statement when you file this complaint, she faces the prospect of disciplinary sanctions that run from an informal admonition to disbarment.
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