I snipped a portion of a legal document I received recently related to a bankruptcy one of my customers is going through. I blacked out the law firm that is being compensated. Realize that over half the time spent was by paralegals.
How much did the law firm get paid? Got your calculator handy?
Don't worry, it's a fair amount to be paid--the lawyer getting paid says so.
Working in a cardiology office, I was talking with a man this week.
He mentioned he had triplets, all in post grad studies.
One was studying to be a doctor
Another was studying to be a lawyer
The third was working in agriculture, going into business in the production of marijuana.
My response; I expressed condolences about the wayward son becoming a lawyer, kids don’t always turn out good.
The doc will work hard and probably do well
But the pothead was the smart one.
I have heard if someone wants to get into the medical field for the money they should concentrate on a specialty with an "ology" tacked onto the title. Radiology, anesthesiology, cardiology, etc. In fact, it might have been you that said this.
Is this third kid going to become a cannabiologist?
That's in the ballpark, might even be a bit inexpensive. The last time I needed a lawyer was in 2007 and he was $200 a hour. Of course it depends on where you live too.
The rate for the work done in the document I posted comes down to an average of $344 an hour, BUT over half the hours billed were for paralegal work. Since paralegal work is typically 40% or so of a lawyer's rate (I think), this is an expensive lawyer.
Maybe. You get what you pay for usually. The "fixer" criminal attorney in this circuit charges $25000 to take a case plus $200 per hour out of court work plus $500 per hour in court. I have never seen him lose a case. He pleas most of them to SWEET deals. When he does go to trial, he plays a jury like a fiddle.
Criminal attorneys do command higher pay. This person I'm talking about is a corporate lawyer working on a bankruptcy case--over $500 an hour seems a bit spendy.