Divorce Attorney Introduces A Novel Reduced Fee Program For His San Francisco Bay Area Clients Who Pay Their Bills Promptly

People facing a decision to end a marriage are often daunted at the prospect of paying the notoriously very high hourly fees charged by experienced Family Law attorneys. A complicated case can require hundreds of hours of attorney time, and therefore tens of thousands of dollars in expense. Even a simple case requires a significant expenditure to complete financial disclosures, negotiate a complete settlement and prepare and execute the numerous required documents.

Especially in the current economy of depressed home values and decimated investment accounts, paying even a very good professional for services at a typical rate of $350 to $450 per hour, and more, just does not make sense to most potential clients.

When asked why their rates are so high, Divorce attorneys routinely justify the high rates by pointing out that their clients often do not pay their bills in full, leaving the attorney with uncollectible accounts receivable. This low rate of collection therefore justifies charging everyone a higher rate, or so they say.

In response to the current economy, and realizing that the many honest clients who do honor their financial obligations should not be charged extra to cover the unpaid bills of complete strangers, Berkeley attorney David Holcomb has been offering clients a novel reduced hourly fee arrangement. He realized that expecting some clients to not pay, and then overcharging good clients to make up for the others, was itself the problem. So he has turned this around. Mr. Holcomb explains: “If my clients are willing to make a real commitment to paying for my services, then I commit to an hourly rate that is $50 to $150 per hour less than most other experienced attorneys are charging.”

Mr. Holcomb’s attorney/client fee agreement literally puts a line through his standard hourly rate, and instead offers a reduced rate for every minute of services he provides, so long as the client either posts advance payment for services, or pays within 10 days of invoicing. If the client falls behind, they are assessed the full rate.

This has been a true “win/win” that works for both clients and for this “Compassionate Divorce” attorney. “We start out on a foundation of mutual trust, and mutual responsibility, with mutual rewards. In the 8 months since initiating this new policy, I have never had to assert the “standard” rate, because my client’s are very appreciative of the fair value of my services, and make an extra effort to stay ahead of their bills.”

Mr. Holcomb acknowledges that a good lawyer’s service on a divorce are never cheap, but he estimates his comparatively low hourly rate saves each client $5,000 on average, or about a 20% savings.

“My clients are happy to pay less, and I am happy to get paid for my work”, he says. “Too many of my colleagues complain about clients who demand services but refuse to pay for what they have already received, much less for future work. My clients are treated fairly from the outset, and so they treat me fairly. That is our contract from the beginning. We are all much happier.”

Mr. Holcomb is a trained Collaborative Divorce professional, offering “out of court” divorce services. He has 24 years experience as a divorce and civil litigator in all the Northern California courts. He is available for mediation, litigation and pre-marital and post-marital planning.

Mr. Holcomb offers a fixed fee initial consultation at either his main South Berkeley or Walnut Creek office.

Via EPR Network
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Lawyers To Lawmakers: Reject Anti-Consumer Foreclosure Bill

A group of attorneys who represent foreclosure defendants around the state is calling on lawmakers to reject a proposed new law deceptively titled “Homeowner Relief and Housing Recovery Act” designed to change Florida’s foreclosure process from that is supervised by the courts, to a non-judicial process that would be entirely in the hands of the banks and mortgage companies from start to finish. Lawyers for Homeowners Rights or LHR-FL, a statewide coalition of consumer attorneys, will travel to Tallahassee on April 21 with homeowners to speak out against this anti-consumer legislation. According to Chip Parker, a Jacksonville attorney, “every Florida homeowner should be worried about passage of this bill”.

The two bills, HB 1523 by Rep. Tom Grady, R-Naples, and SB 2270, by Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, will be considered this week by legislative committees. These two lawmakers want to allow mortgage companies to obtain foreclosure quickly so the home owned by a borrower who falls behind on their payments can be sold only after two letters sent by mail. If the homeowner does not respond or cannot pay what has been demanded by the bank, the house can be s sold -even if the homeowner is still living in it. There would be no independent review of any amounts claimed to be owed, or whether there has been a default under the mortgage, or even if the mortgage company has the right to foreclose even if there has been a mistake.

“It offends me that bankers can convince our lawmakers to use such blatantly misleading titles to legislation in a concerted effort to fool consumers,” said St Petersburg attorney Matt Weidner, who represents hundreds of homeowners across the state in foreclosure proceedings. “I see first-hand, every single day the profound effect the foreclosure crisis is having on consumers, institutions and our communities. This bill will do nothing to help homeowners.”

LHR-FL opposes the legislation saying that these institutions cannot be trusted with the foreclosure process pointing to a federal probe, recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, that is now underway and looking into alleged fraud by a Jacksonville, Florida company known as Lender Processing Services and its subsidiary Docx, LLC. These companies regularly prepare thousands of documents for banks and mortgage companies to be used in foreclosures all over the U.S., including at least one document that was prepared and filed in a Florida county showing that “bogus assignee” owned the mortgage. “Our lawmakers should not vote to trust the same people involved in that kind of activity. That is not good judgment in our view”, says Weidner.

Dominick Salfi, a former Circuit Court Judge in Seminole County, says “passage of this law would only worsen the abuse by mortgage companies”. He continues, “mortgage companies, banks and their lawyers are taking advantage of our overworked judges and their support staff who do not have sufficient hours in a day to thoroughly review each file.” LHR-FL argues that lawmakers who vote to put the foreclosure process in the hands of an industry that has shown little regard for the law, our courts and homeowner rights themselves risk being someday at the mercy of these institutions if mortgage payments are missed. “It’s a sobering thought. Even if you have faithfully paid for years into your mortgage, if something unexpected happens to you and cannot pay, or if the mortgage company mistakes you for someone else, it’s two notices and you’re out. That could happen to anyone, and it’s just not safe at all.” says Parker.

Via EPR Network
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