Pullman, MI Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

A lawyer is not ethically permitted to charge any more than a reasonable amount. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances, of course, including a number of factors set out in the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct (you may want to look up MRPC 1.7). If he will not give you either an itemization or an explanation as to why $10,000 is reasonable, you may want to contact the Attorney Grievance Commission about it. I express no opinion as to whether his fee is reasonable in these circumstances, but you ask a perfectly legitimate question. You should raise the question with your lawyer in writing and tell him that you would prefer not to go to the AGC but that if you aren't given a satisfactory explanation, you may have to do that or retain separate counsel.

Generally there is an international convention which causes the various nations to recognize divorces granted in other nations. Therefore, if you are divorce in the United States I suspect that you are also divorced in Chile. Because of the complications of international law, this is simply a statement of general principal, and in order to form a firm opinion you would have to bring in all of the facts, engage the firm, and remunerated us for the time spent researching the matter.