When looking for an attorney to represent you and your rights in your family law matter, a large factor many take into consideration when choosing the right attorney is how much they will charge for their services. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that surround an attorney’s fee and what the average cost of a Florida attorney is.
Attorney’s ethical conduct is regulated by the Florida Bar and one requirement the Bar requires of attorneys is to set reasonable fees for their services. Therefore, when considering reasonableness an attorney will weigh factors such as: “the time, labor, and skill required to perform the work; the customary fee within the locality for similar work; the amount involved and the result obtained; the experience, ability, and reputation of the attorney; difficulty of the work; the time limitations; and whether the fee is fixed or contingent.”
Therefore, attorneys involved in Criminal Defense work will likely have a different hourly rate than an attorney practicing Contract Litigation or Family Law, as each different type of law may require a different skill set, different timelines for the case, as well as the amount of work necessary to follow a case to its completion. Therefore, it is important not to compare and contrast different attorney’s fees who practice in different areas of the law. Instead, it is more prudent to compare and contrast the attorneys practicing the same type of law, Family Law, to determine a more accurate representation. The national average hourly cost of a Family Law attorney if between $150-$550, once again, this is an average and can vary depending upon other factors. Narrowing down even further, we can look to the state of Florida, who’s average cost for a Family Law attorney is between $260-$330. Finally, you want to look at your specific geographic location for where your divorce will take place. In the city of Florida, costs can range between $150-$500 per hour for a Florida Divorce Attorney with an average hourly rate of $260. However, this number can increase or decrease depending on the experience, ability and reputation of the attorney. Therefore, ask your Florida Divorce Attorney their length of practice in law, and their length of practice in this particular type of law, ask of their connections and relationships with the other attorneys around town, ask of any of their awards or recognitions they have received for their work, and their strategies when approaching a case. These can reveal a great deal of information to you regarding not only their personality but their expertise in the area of law.
Before committing to any attorney and their fee, research the specific area of law you will be needing an attorney for, the average hourly rate of attorneys in that area of work, the average hourly rate of attorneys in that area of work in the city you will need the representation in, and finally their reputation, experience, ability to represent you. When you speak to one of our Florida Divorce Attorneys, feel free to ask us about our experience, education, and fees related to our representation. Being comfortable with your attorney is essential to the attorney client relationship and we at the Virga Law Firm will be honest and upfront and provide all answers to your questions. Finally, ask us about our unique fee arrangements and have us explain our firm standards to you.
Speaking to an attorney at our Florida office is free of charge, and we accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us at 850-307-5211 or complete an online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team today.