I kind of have multiple questions under the scope of lawyer fees. They're about a federal white collar criminal case of this friend of mine. I won't get into details as these are rather general questions. Thanks in advance for your help!
So the attorney has a certain flat fee rate. My first question is, if the attorney were to be terminated, **how should the fees be calculated? **By hours/minutes, or by blocks of work completed?
Second question: Are lawyers even allowed to have 'after hour' fees. For example, a lawyer working on a case charges one fee when he/she works during the day (9pm-6pm) and another higher fee if he/she works on it during the night/weekend. Are they allowed to do so? Some lawyers haven't even heard of this system so I just want to confirm. The mentioned friend (the client) retained a lawyer that purposely work after hours to make more money, and does not make any form of communication during the day. Should that be allowed?
My main question: When a client has terminated a lawyer, and they request a detailed bill of the fee for the hours/work completed so far, can the lawyer refuse to provide it? The client wants some of the money back as a refund, as not alot of work was completed. Whether the fee was calculated by mins/hours or by blocks of work completed up until that point, the lawyers are required to provide that information when requested by the client right?
I would be glad to clarify/edit anything that may not make sense. Thank you once again for your help.