{"id":3608,"date":"2005-02-12T16:00:01","date_gmt":"2005-02-12T20:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/02\/12\/the-valentine-divorce-lawyer\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:59","slug":"the-valentine-divorce-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/02\/12\/the-valentine-divorce-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"the valentine-divorce lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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       from the desk of ethicalEsq<\/FONT><\/A><\/EM> (ret.):<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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You may have seen the <\/FONT>AP story<\/FONT><\/A> about WKRL-FM<\/FONT><\/A> in Syracuse\/Utica, NY,<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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which is giving away a <\/FONT>Free Divorce for Valentine’s Day<\/FONT><\/A>.  It’s a mildly amusing<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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stunt by K-Rock’s “Damn Morning Show” crew.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Naturally, this excerpt from the <\/FONT><\/FONT>news story<\/FONT><\/A> interested<\/FONT> me most (AP\/Newsday<\/EM>,  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by William Kates, Feb. 12, 2005): <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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The free divorce will be handled by lawyer Brad Margolis. A divorce <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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without custody issues, where both husband and wife want to split and <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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agree on how to divide their assets, costs at least $1,390 – about $1,000 <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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in legal fees and $390 in state filing costs, he said.<\/EM>

“That’s a lot of money for a paper-pushing exercise. In a lot of these cases, <\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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people just want to make legal something that is already done,” Margolis <\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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said, noting the national divorce rate is over 50 percent.<\/EM> <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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\"boxerSignB\"  My first reaction was, “you’re darn right it’s a lot of money for paper-pushing!”  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Based on my <\/FONT><\/FONT>quaint belief<\/FONT><\/A> that<\/FONT> lawyers must act as fiduciaries<\/EM> for their clients <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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when advising them on a course of action and<\/EM> when setting fees, my second <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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reaction was the question: “Shouldn’t a lawyer tell clients that they can find forms <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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right here<\/FONT><\/A> to use for an uncontested divorce in New York State<\/FONT>, along with step-by-<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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step guidance?”  Sure, some folks will prefer to let the lawyer handle the paperwork,<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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but others might be very pleased to do it themselves, and should be given the <\/FONT>choice.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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My interest piqued, I decided to head over to the <\/FONT>website of Brad S. Margolis<\/FONT><\/A>, J.D.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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And, guess what I learned?  Margolis really does<\/EM> think that $1000 is a lot of money<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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to pay for an uncontested divorce.  Indeed, his fee<\/EM> for an uncontested divorce is not<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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$1000, but $<\/FONT>375.00<\/FONT><\/A>.   So, when Margolis and K-Rock say<\/A>.<\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV>
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“The approximate retail value of Uncontested Divorce is $1,000.00.”  <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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I guess they mean Margolis can get it for you wholesale at his law office — a 62.5% <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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discount<\/FONT>.  Margolis’ divorce <\/FONT><\/FONT>fee agreement<\/FONT><\/A> states that his hourly fee (for purposes of <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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drawing down a retainer) is $158.00 per hour.  [That rate will sound low to many readers, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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but recall that Margolis practices in central NYS, where lawyer income, like the whole <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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economy, is depressed.]   At that hourly rate, Margolis would be paid for about 2.4 hours <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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under the $375 flat fee — a generous allotment of time.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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