There are two ways a lawyer can charge you. The difference is bigger than most people think — so read this before you hire anyone.
By the hour
The clock runs on everything — every phone call, every email, every text. And no one can tell you the final price up front.
One flat fee
One price. We give it to you at your consult, in writing, before you pay us anything. It covers your divorce from day one through mediation — and the calls and emails along the way.
This is what “by the hour” looks like
One month on the clock — a typical month, built from real bills from cases we’ve handled. Notice how much of it is just talking.
13 of these 21 charges are just talking — calls, emails, and texts. On the clock, a phone call to ask a question is a purchase — so people stop calling, right when they need help most.
By the hour, where does it stop?
Here’s the part that should worry you: nothing happened this month. No hearing. Nothing settled. Your case didn’t move — and it still cost $3,190. A month with a hearing runs $6,000 to $10,000. Stack up 8 to 10 months of this and a “normal” divorce quietly becomes $25,000, $30,000, sometimes more — and no one can tell you where it stops.
A flat fee ends the guessing. One price, in writing, at your consult — before you pay us anything. You know your cost on day one instead of finding out at the end. It covers your divorce from filing through mediation, where almost every divorce settles, and it covers the calls and emails along the way. Ask us what you need, within reason — there is no meter, and no charge for a phone call.
Why there is a five-month limit — and why it protects you
The fee is priced for a divorce that moves: filing through mediation, inside about five months. That is where most cases land. We set the limit there on purpose, so a client who is doing their part is not paying for somebody else’s foot-dragging. If a case has to go to trial, needs repeated hearings, or runs well past five months, it has become a different kind of case — and we would sit down, talk it through, and agree on a new arrangement then. Your decision at that point. Never a surprise at the end.
How do we do it for one price? An hourly firm works one thing at a time — file the petition, then wait. And the waiting months still have billed calls and emails stacking up on them. We draft your discovery and your property paperwork while the petition is out being served. Same work, fewer months — and fewer months is the whole ballgame.
We used to bill by the hour, too.
We watched the meter scare people out of calling their own lawyer. In our hourly days, one client’s bill for a nine-day stretch with a hearing was $7,400. So we stopped. One price, known up front — that’s the whole idea behind Divorce. Simplified.
The bill above is an example built from real hourly divorce invoices this firm has handled — the dates are illustrative, and the rates and charges are typical, not any one client’s file.