Dear Dan:
When you hire a lawyer and you ask for an idea of what it will cost, BEWARE. Any price quote you get in an email, as I did for an eviction, means nothing, because if you want to complain about the final fees, the State Bar will ONLY go by the contract you signed. The contract stated $395 an hour but it did not state how long it would take for specific things. My lawyer bill was over $8,000 for an eviction. The email from my lawyer quoted me a price of $1,500-2,500 if I settle before I go to jury trial and $7,500 if I go to jury trial. I settled before a jury trial and it cost me over $8,000. Price check what they charge per hour and don’t rely on what is said in an email because it doesn’t hold for anything if you try to do a fee arbitration. Check online reviews, Yelp, etc., before you decide. And there are lawyers out there cheaper than $395 that produce SIMILAR results as mine. I know this because I compared what my friend paid her lawyer. I compared apples to apples, eviction, Basta, deposition, discovery, apples to apples. Why pay more for similar results. So check their hourly rate, and the number of hours it takes them to do something. It took my lawyer 3.1 hours to review my file, they stared at it, and stared at it, and stared at it, and when they were staring at it, was the perfect time to tell me that more was involved and it was going to cost me more, if that is their argument. Sincerely, Mary
Dear Pattie:
I do not know where to begin, but first let me thank you and the Association’s magazine.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all the things the magazine and the association does for us, the members.
I especially want to thank you for the inclusion of legal subjects that are in the pipeline or that may be already on the books that the little guy without a legal department is not aware off.
I had read the article by Attorney Dale Alberstone about how to avoid being sued by your resident manager in the June, 2015 issue which caused me to review my contracts only to find that I was not in compliance with the new requirements, however, it was too late, as I was already being sued but did not know it.
Because I had read the very informative article in the magazine by Mr. Dale Alberstone, we went to his office in Century City and engaged his services. Mr. Alberstone not only conducted a brilliant defense strategy that saved us a lot of money, but his sympathetic attitude was helpful in ameliorating the angst that one suffers when attacked by unscrupulous plaintiffs and their counsel . Thank you. Jorge P., Member
Dear Jorge: Thank you for your kind words. Let’s remind everyone to be sure to attend Attorney Dale Alberstone’s seminar at the Long Beach Convention Center on Thursday, May 19th at the AOA Trade Show and Landlording Conference. He will be covering the newest resident manager laws that every owner should know!