According to the CT Law Tribune, "A Connecticut lawyer who publicly voiced his concerns about high costs of guardians ad litem services was shocked by the timing of an Appellate Court decision in his own divorce case.
Just one business day after Gov. Dannel Malloy signed into law a measure that will provide greater oversight of GALs and their fees, the court approved $252,000 in fees for two court-appointed child advocates. Some pro se parents who lobbied for GAL reform said they had been devastated financially by bills that were only a fraction as large.
For more on this story, please click on the link below:
http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202655749932/%27Astronomical%27-Fees-Assessed-To-Lawyer-Who-Testified-For-GAL-Reform%0D%0A%0D%0A#ixzz328Fu0lHQ
The appeal was filed by Paul Greenan, a former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom trusts and estates lawyer who now has a practice in Stamford. He claimed in court documents that the GAL and attorney for minor children appointed in his divorce case collectively spent just four-and-a-half hours with his two children, though that total was in dispute."
For more on this story, please click on the link below:
http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202655749932/%27Astronomical%27-Fees-Assessed-To-Lawyer-Who-Testified-For-GAL-Reform%0D%0A%0D%0A#ixzz328Fu0lHQ
The first thing you have to ask about an individual who complains over having to pay exorbitant GAL fees is 'did they lose?' If the answer is 'yes,' then either they had a bad case or a bad attorney. If they had a bad case, no amount of money would have helped. If they had a bad attorney, they probably didn't spend enough.
ReplyDeleteYou are joking, right? $252,000 is an acceptable amount?? Not even if you win! This is the reason we need reform & why we will have reform!
Delete$252,000!! Are you insane? That's crazy. Even for Connecticut that is crazy.
ReplyDeleteI am not joking, nor am I insane. Why would you insist on capping the cost of GAL's? Why are GAL's different than any other professional that bills out their time? If I'm a contractor and we agree on a price for a job, and then you as the customer keep adding onto the job, over and over, you don't expect to pay just the initial agreed upon price. You expect to be billed for the additional work.Then there's the matter of what is an "acceptable amount." Who get's to decide that? Right now the market does. If you want the government to make that decision, fine, but consider that precedent. Should we limit dentist's to what they can charge for a filling? Should we legislate the price roofer's can charge regardless of the size of the roof? Sure $252,000 is a tremendous amount of money. But look at the individual case. Obviously this one was a high conflict case. A lot of time and effort was put into it, probably by all parties. And yes, someone has to pay for that. Do you expect people to work for for free? Would you do your job for free? Last I checked, we don't have a cost free legal system. If you or your spouse want his/her day in court, it costs money. Judges have to be paid. Court personnel have to be paid. Attorneys have to be paid. And, yes, where involved, GAL's have to be paid. Only saints and volunteers do things for free, and there are few saints or volunteers in the courts.
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