Strange Legal Bill

Parent Cafe
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<p>alh, we don’t really have a social relationship with them. We see them at the annual picnic given by the longest term residents–since 1812!–an occasionally at other times. If there is a holiday open house or something. Inviting them over for drinks would be kind of weird. :)</p>

<p>Zoos, I just don’t see exactly how it could go. I think that dealing with it in a way that enables us both to pretend it never happened is the best thing, if possible. They will be informed that we are paying these fees because they will be cced on any correspondence.</p>

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Maybe I’m missing something. Is this a contentious relationship? At the very least I would cc my neighbor on whatever letter I sent to the lawyer so there would be no question of my position.</p>

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<p>161^^oh dear. I don’t know where you live. I have lived in the NE and other places where it might not really be appropriate. I have done it anyway. No one has ever turned down drinks. Even if they don’t drink alcohol, they are happy to have a soft drink.</p>

<p>otherwise just hang out at the property line till they show up??
I don’t see how this can possibly be resolved without an in-person conversation because I, personally, would not trust the lawyer you are describing to be telling me the truth about what is going on. And there is no telling what he is telling them about you.</p>

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<p>Glad to hear that’s how you’d like to handle it, Consolation(last sentence, post 157)
As Zooser says, you can handle it this way. Simply by dropping by and saying you received the bill by mistake. Don’t slap it on a desk and say you refuse to pay it, just say you think it’s in error. If neighbors say - Oh no, this is your bill- then just say -Oh? Then we’ll have to look over it-, and then leave. At that time you don’t have to say you’ll pay it, or that you won’t pay it. That would be meeting, but certainly not what most would consider a confrontation. As was discussed earlier, the neighbors may not even know their atty is billing Op for atty’s services…</p>

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<p>Okay, but what would it accomplish?</p>

<p>alh, I actually do pretty much trust the lawyer. Standing at the property line won’t work: you can barely see their house from there. (I think they have well over 25 acres, maybe 50. We’re in a semi-country setting.) I just do not see any positive result coming out of this meeting with the neighbor, because I think that if the neighbor was intending to just pay the bill in full we would never have heard from the lawyer in the first place.</p>

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<p>The neighbor would know their lawyer is billing you.</p>

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<p>Just as a matter of record keeping, shouldn’t every party to the transaction have a full set of all the correspondence? I can’t imagine not doing so.</p>

<p>I would send a copy of my letter with a “For your files” notation on it. But I am slightly compulsive about record keeping, perhaps because my memory isn’t great.</p>

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<p>I would not expect to get a copy of the neighbor’s legal bills. It has nothing to do with us. I would imagine that the same thing would apply in reverse. (Of course, the one we received is not a legit bill, but that makes no difference.)</p>

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<p>consolation: imho you need to find out exactly what is going on and you can’t do that without talking to the neighbors.</p>

<p>It is possible they have decided you should pay part of the fees. (But do you have anyone’s word on that except the lawyers? Do they have this sort of reputation?) And then you should tell them face to face what you are willing to pay and pay them then and there. But if it were me, I would politely explain to them that, as was originally agreed, we were not obligated for any expense or willing to contribute to the project financially. I would emphasize we cooperated with them in allowing the project to move forward and were happy to accommodate them since it involved no out of pocket expense for us. I would make a lot of enthusiastic noises about what a great job they have done with their project. The change in your financial circumstances or anything at all about your finances has absolutely no bearing on you paying something now that you wouldn’t have agreed to months ago when the original agreement was made, IMO</p>

<p>If I were you, in the situation you describe, I would be worried something was happening that I couldn’t imagine. Something crazy. I would want to reassure myself. I tend to be suspicious and a bit of an alarmist.</p>

<p>And obviously just because this is how I would handle it doesn’t mean you have to. Again, I just like to write to read myself think:)</p>

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<p>Since you asked, (post 165)
The best possible outcome is that the neighbors find that you are being billed for their atty’s services, might agree it is in error, and call their atty to correct it. Next to that, it might bring up the topic of how you permitted the changes, but were not to pay any costs, as you detailed in a post earlier. At the very least, it lets neighbors know that you were surprised by getting a bill from their atty, yet at that moment neither agreeing nor refusing to pay.
In worst case scenario- it accomplishes nothing. But even in that case, nothing is worsened.
If I am faced with 2 decisions like this, where taking polite action w/ neighbor might help, or might not help(but wouldn’t hurt) OR taking no action w/ neighbor(and I KNOW that won’t help), I’d choose the first way.</p>

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<p>But you did get a copy (portion) of the neighbor’s legal bills.</p>

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Not necessarily the bill, but whatever correspondence you send to the lawyer. Have you been copied on everything all along? Because if you don’t have all the information, you could get a nasty surprise down the road. Which you actually already did.</p>

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<p>We haven’t sent any correspondence to anyone yet. When we do, we will indeed CC everyone.</p>

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<p>just saw this as the pages changed</p>

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<p>my concern is that there are a lot of assumptions (as I interpret your posts :))</p>

<p>How about this? Tell the lawyer to have the neighbors contact you and you will discuss it with them? But decide in advance what you will say if they actually call.</p>

<p>I am understanding correctly that you actually have a contract in hand that spells out you aren’t obligated for any of the expenses their lawyer has since billed you for?</p>

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<p>Oh my, Consolation, you’ve gotten so much well intentioned advice :)</p>

<p>I went back and reread your post #s 13 and 37. Since it is not clear why the attorney thought he could bill you for $3k, and he later asked “what you thought you could do” when your husband said “no way” to the preposterous first bill, its hard to know what is going on between him and his client (your neighbor). I do think it is unlikely the attorney would badmouth your family around town since, as you said, he is in the wrong. Since you have already verbally agreed to cover filing and bank fees (the “out of pocket” fees) it might be hard, though certainly not impossible, to say "on further thought we are only willing to cover “X” in fees (though that is really quite fine). I totally agree that any correspondence to the attorney should be copied to your neighbor. This all needs to be above board. If you are making a kind gesture to be neighborly and to acknowledge the benefit you are getting by this land swap, they need to know you are doing it. I don’t see how this can be embarassing to them. If anything, the attorney should be embarassed. If the neighbors are not happy with their attorney and have witheld fees,thats between them, as you know. To me, including them in any decision you make sets up the alliance with them, which is a good thing. </p>

<p>I can understand why you want to make a good will gesture, given that if it all happens (and it could all fall through) that you will benefit from it, but again, I’d wait to make any payment until the very end, and not until he retracts his original bill, in writing. Personally, I’d probably say I would split the “out of pocket” expenses. I forget what you said they were-- maybe $400 or so. Offer to pay half (that is plenty generous) and let them know your parameters. CC the neighbors on the correspondence. Letter can read :</p>

<p>We are in receipt of your bill for $3,000 to cover…XXXX… We were surprised to receive this statement from you for, as you know, we have not retained your services. As per your conversation with my husband on XXX, we are willing to consider a contribution in the amount of XXXX as a good will gesture to cover a portion of the bank/ filing fees of (XXXX date) associated with the refiling of HELOC loans necessary to complete the proposed land swap performed at the request of our neighbors/ your client (XXX). We will require a letter from you redacting your previous bill in its entirety. At the completion of this project, once the land swap and all corresponding paperwork has been completed to our/our neighbors satisfaction, we will forward to you a check in the amount of $XXX (say oh… $225 or so) representing our contribution to the documentation costs. You and we understand that we are under no obligation to pay any of the fees associated with your attorney/client relationship with XXX and that this neighborly gesture from us in no way represents a contractual relationshp with you"…</p>

<p>Send to him and your neighbor.</p>

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<p>Isn’t the point of this thread the $3k bill received from a lawyer OP did not contract with? Written, orally or otherwise. I don’t think I would speak with the neighbor about this. Not at this point. Nor would I worry about whether it’s double billing or a portion the neighbor refused or sunspots or whatever.</p>

<p>Isn’t the central issue that a 3k bill was received? Implying (initially, at least,) that you are liable for 3k? And, so, the matter should be directed back at that lawyer. It does not matter to me if the neighbors told him to send a portion of the bill to you, conveyed the wrong impression to him, are aware or not, haven’t paid their portion of the bill or etc. </p>

<p>What matters is that OP discharge this bill she and DH did receive.</p>

<p>To much speculation and a leaning toward DIY. No one has clear understanding here that, on payment of the $500, the rest of the bill will be cancelled. It does no good to speculate or assume. Nothing is in writing-- except that bill.</p>

<p>As shown in the arbitration quote (granted, out of context,) it is the attorney’s obligation to explain suffficiently to you. Not for you to get the bill and enter into negotiations from the get-go. </p>

<p>If you don’t want to consult you own attorney or friends who are attorneys, then send a letter now to that neighbor’s guy. </p>

<p>I am deleting my own suggested wording because I think the above says it well enough. -Though, I think you should say only that you are willing to “consider” the $5xx.</p>

<p>I would NOT cc it to the neighbor. Why not? Partly, I assume you have your own respectful reasons. And, because you have stated and restated that you are willing to pay the $5xx, the primary and immediate purpose/need is to get rid of the other $2500.</p>

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<p>Consolation, I bet your own lawyer would tell you not to pay a penny of this bill, and he’d be right.</p>

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<p>forward makes a good point, that since Op is willing to pay $500 or so of their neighbor’s bill, that sending that $500 before the Op has definitive proof in hand that neighbor’s atty will dismiss all the rest would not be the best course of action.</p>

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<p>But, LasMa, Consolation has said she doesn’t want to ask her lawyer, or her many lawyer friends. She’d rather pay a good will gesture payment in the exact amount of the oop fees that she has been billed and hope that ends it.</p>

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<p>^^ “hope” … What if after she pays the $500, the other parties don’t consider the matter closed? She has no assurance whatsoever that that won’t happen.</p>