Law Offices of Margaret B. Walton

[redacted] was hired to represent me in my divorce settlement hearing. She is claiming I owe her $1400 in addition to the $2800 she received.

I hired [redacted] to represent me for my divorce settlement hearing in October 2011. It was last minute due to the fact my ex husband and I had agreed to do the hearing without attorneys. Three days before the hearing I was notified my ex husband had hired an attorney. I went into [redacted]'s office and received a consultation which I paid her $350. She informed me that in order to represent me, she would need to bill me for an entire day ($2500)whether it was 1 hour or 8 hours. I let her know, I didn't have any money, however, my father had agreed to pay for my representation at the hearing. My father called and gave his credit card to [redacted]'s office and paid the balance in full. [redacted] showed up to the hearing equiped with a blank yellow notepad and a pen. There was no time for any preparation as the hearing was the next day. We were at the courthouse from about 9am-11am. The following day my ex husband's attorney called [redacted]'s office to ask a question. They were told "We no longer represent [redacted], we were hired only for the settlement conference." I never saw or spoke to [redacted] after the settlement conference. Soon after the settlement conference I started getting a bill for $1400. I called her office because I thought it was a mistake. Her assistant told me it was for "additional charges". I let them know, I never agreed to anything more that the amount we had already paid. I was very honest and up front with her office in the very beginning. I let her know what I could afford and that the majority of the money was coming from my father. I would have never agreed to pay $4200.00 for about 4 hours of service. I feel the charges are definitely an error. After sending me several bills, her office sent me a letter saying she would lower the amount to $1,000. I am refusing to pay any amount due to the fact I never agreed to this. In additon, I feel it is extremely dishonest on the part of [redacted] and her office to quote a price to me, then try to get more money. I am a single mom with primary custody of 2 teenagers. I live on a very tight budget and always find out how much something is going to cost before I agree to it.