The saga continues.
California law requires that a deponent be paid by the deposing attorney prior to or at the beginning of the deposition, with any amounts beyond the anticipated length of the deposition to be paid within 5 days of receipt of invoice. Since this deposition was remote (via Zoom), I emailed my invoice the same day of the deposition (11/24/20). In the email I asked for confirmation of receipt, but got none.
On 12/17/20 I sent a paper invoice by First Class mail. No response.
On 01/13/21 I sent email with another copy of the invoice and a draft of a State Bar complaint, stating that I would file the complaint if payment was not received within 5 business days. That elicited an email response from the attorney's staff:
Good morning Mr. Frame,
I spoke to our client this morning, and he is mailing a check to our office today. As soon as it is
received we will send you a check to pay your invoice. Thank you.
On 01/21/20, having not received payment or any further correspondence, I filed the complaint with the State Bar.
@jim-frame If the law says you are to paid by the attorney then why are they waiting on the client? Try telling them you don't care if or when the client pays, you want your money now. 😎
And meanwhile, I suppose the lawyer charged his client a quarter hour for reading each of your emails and letters.
@bill93 A lawyer friend of mine told me if he's sitting on the toilet and thinking about a case it's billable time.
Had a fellow running for State Attorney General who had been billing out more than 24 hours per day regularly. He lost. Of course, I'm sure it would have been a tremendous cut in pay anyway.
Jim you know we are all vicariously participating in this struggle for payment. Please keep us informed of the plight of the attorney. We will all enjoy it.
FYI, I received payment today from the attorney -- 2 months and 1 day after it was due.
Update on the case: the judge issued a tentative decision holding that my survey correctly locates the disputed line based on the agreed boundary doctrine. It'll be a couple of months before the judgment is finalized, and the plaintiff will then have 60 days to appeal, but I'm celebrating anyway.
