10 questions related to legal fees every new client should ask before hiring a lawyer

In order to minimize financial surprises and reduce the cost of your legal bill, consider asking these 10 questions when speaking to a lawyer for the first time.

If you’re facing challenges in your life and you need legal help, chances are you’ve considered hiring a lawyer to help you resolve your legal issues.

Unfortunately, lawyers aren’t cheap. Many of them charge $250/hr — $750/hr to handle a legal case, and would likely cost thousands of dollars in total, no matter how small the issue seems to be.

So in order to minimize financial surprises and reduce the cost of hiring a lawyer, where possible, here are 10 questions you should ask when speaking to a lawyer for the first time:

How much would it cost to hire a lawyer to help with my legal case?

In order to take on a legal case, lawyers would need to agree with a client regarding the compensation for their services, as well as the retainer fee required to start the process. The retainer fee is simply a pre-payment meant to secure a lawyer-client relationship.