Attorney on Retainer

[Grace]

Some of the posts make reference to "my attorney", and I'm just curious as to how many appraisers have attorneys on retainer? Do you just pay a monthly fee, and then are entitled to legal advice when it's needed?

I would love to say "call my attorney, if you have any more stupid questions!".

Thanks in advance.

Grace

 

[airphoto]

Grace,

Actually, my son is dating/residing with a young lady attorney .. thus we have one 'in the family.' But, also do a fair amount of work for/with another lady attorney in the area, so can use the 'my attorney' terminology at any time, just as she's free to refer to me as 'her appraiser' or 'her financial analyst.'

 

[Anonymous]

Cultivating lawyers is a good way to get free advice and reciprocate when they have a question. Good business.

 

[Jeff Horton]

Guess I am fortunate. I have an school chum who eventualy became a lawyer. In his 30's he went back to school (harvard no less) and got his law degree. A year ago he decided to run for State Senate and won on a no contributions platform. He is one of the really rare honest ones. So yea I have a Lawyer. Of course I pay have to pay him

 

[xmrdfghap]

Grace, I am a member of Pre-Paid Legal. It is a legal insurance plan which costs me about $20.00 per month. I can call them or anything from traffic tickets to bill collection. The primary firm in this area has specialists who do nothing but their specialty. My wife gets speeding tickets three or four times a year....to date, she has not gotten ANY points on her record and no fines have been in excess of $35.00 plus costs. Every ticket she gets, she calls the insurance company, gives them the ticket number and what happened, and a week or two later they will call her and tell her how much to send and where to send it. If you end up in litigation, they give a substantial discount for both the retainer and the per hour fee.

BTW, Pre-Paid Legal is traded on the NYSE.

Greg

 

[Dick Dolman]

I have two attorneys with whom I have exchanged pro bono work over the past 30 some years to the extent that genuine friendships have developed and they regard himself as "retained". To quote one of them, "A just fee is in hand paid, the sufficiency whereof is hereby acknowledged and confessed." If I am approached as a consultant or expert witness, I always ask who the attorney is for the other side and if it is my attorney, I respond that I will not accept the assignment without his consent. I had one occasion that one of my attorneys said that a spirited cross examination would be pleasurable recreation, to accept the assignment, and to be sure that I charged an appropriate fee for my services. To our mutual disappointment, the complaint was withdrawn and we were not able to cross swords in the courtroom. We did later over a bottle of the Glenlivit and hung the jury. We never did establish if the other side was afraid of him or me. I like to think it was him because to my knowledge, he was only in court once in his entire career which is a testament to how well he knows and presents the law.

 

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Dick and others

I learned appraising from my father who was an attorney. I guess that means I had a retainer.

Unfortunately, Dad passed away several years back, but just as Dick does, through my professional business contacts I have the ability to speak candidly, without charge, with attorneys who are specialists in almost every single field of law. We often swap "professional courtesies", they give me free advice on legal issues that arise and I provide free advice on the best way to proceed with value issues relating to real property. The advice required usually does not rise to providing value conclusions rather , what they want is it reasonable to assume that ..... When they want advice as to value or an appraisal review, they usually request a quote and order the work.

Regards

Tom Hildebrandt GAA

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

Well, I am lucky enough (I guess) to have a brother-in-law that is an attorney locally. Only one time (knock on wood) so far has anyone even hinted that they might try to sue me - this was someone who had a septic tank leaking ucky things that were laying on top of the ground and I almost stepped in it. Of course I mentioned that in my report and this guy called me every name in the book, because according to him, the kids use too much toilet paper! I told him to go ahead and sue, as my brother-in-law was an attorney and my legal fees were very reasonable. Never heard from him again.

 

[David C. Johnson]

Cultivating lawyers is a good way to get free advice and reciprocate when they have a question. Good business.

Very true.

David C. Johnson, Raleigh</span>

 

[Joe Birrell (NY)]

I guess "my attorney" would be one I've known since the 80's when we shared an office building. He turned out to be a really nice guy. He has a good perspective having retired from NYPD Blue as a Lieutenant, while working his way through law school at night. He's honest and does send estate work in my direction. He stopped doing divorces due to all the problems associated with long drawn out battles. As to keeping one on a "retainer" basis, let's hope not (to expensive). So far, I havn't needed his services as an appraiser (still lucky after 24 years).