Sticker Shock

How would you like to pay your lawyer $1500 per hour?  This is what Greenwich, Connecticut divorce lawyer Gary I. Cohen charged his client (taking into account a $300,000 bonus).  As a result, he  is now being investigated by Connecticut disciplinary authorities for charging excessive fees and violating the disciplinary rule that

"a lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses" based on factors such as "[t]he time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly."

See here for the full story.

While I would never pay or charge these kinds of fees, if a lawyer can find clients willing to pay and no coercion or misrepresentation is involved whatsoever, I think lawyers should be allowed to charge it.