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The fees charged by the lawyers at Ronald W Nelson, PA, depend upon the time actually spent
on the case, the complexity of the case, the novelty of the issues, and
several additional factors. No domestic relations case (divorce, legal
separation, annulment, child support, child custody, determination of
parentage) is like any other, so there is no way that we can tell our
clients how much any particular case will cost. We do not have a listing of
“standard fees” or “flat fees” and it would be impossible to make one. The
exact fee for any case depends completely upon the services necessary for the
individual case.
The lawyers at Ronald
W Nelson, PA work primarily on an hourly fee basis (although for “limited
scope representation” matters, we may have fees based upon our estimate of
the time required for that particular limited matter. Our hourly fees range
from $100 per hour for paralegal time to $350 per hour for attorney time.
Since many cases we handle are complex domestic
relations cases that require specialized knowledge and experience, the
number of hours spent in those cases may be very high, and it is not unusual for the fees in complex cases to exceed tens
of thousands of dollars.
We do not provide “free consultations.” Over the years,
we have found that the most important and valuable advice we can give is
often the first 60 minutes we meet with a new client. The first 60-minute
consultation often lays the groundwork for a working relationship and often also can save untold thousands of dollars in
additional legal fees. Accordingly, we charge $350 for our new client consultation
– whether that is in-person, over-the-phone, or by e-mail. We require payment
of this initial consultation fee prior to the consultation.
If we are hired for ongoing
legal work, we require a refundable deposit (“retainer”) before we enter
any appearance in court and before we undertake any significant action
(other than the initial consultation). We typically retain this deposit
until after our final billing, with each month’s billing payable at the
time of that billing.
We discuss our fees with you at this first meeting and
our understanding will be expressed in a written
contract, which may be terminated at any time.
It is important to know that the fees for any legal
matter are largely determined by the amount of anger and resentment between
the parties, how much cooperation and agreement there is between the
parties, the complexity of the issues, the kind of case, and many other
factors that have a direct effect on the amount of time spent – and,
therefore, the amount of fees charged.
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