Lawyer asking exorbitant fees in the middle of the case

There is a Chinese proverbs by Hueng Tsang, go to doctor and lose 25% of your property, go to police and lose another 25% and go to court and end up as a beggar. Choose for yourself not by LCI.

@krishnamurhty..

dont get pushed back by the above such negative comments.

follow this -

a) publish the name of such lawyer here in the forum. upto you and if you feel you are really being harassed.
b) ther were some very good articles published right in the forum here,in the past, by some experts on how to deal wth changing lawyers and no requirement of NOC..do a search and go through it.
c) no NOC required to chagne lawyer .
d) give your advocate a gentle warning that things will be reported to the bar council  ... how serious he takes it is upto him'
e) you can very well go to supreme court. and dont worry.you lawyer cannot do antyhing even if we appears for the defendant

a lawyer is a lawyer until he acts as one but if he tends to backstab /harass you , deal with him as a common man and use the law to the best extent.

remember-  there is always a saying - law is to protect you until justice is served and some tend to use the law unscrupuolously lke you had mentioned but justice will evntually be served if you are firm .

end of day - dont come to an assumption by this one incident on lawyers- there were really a bunch of ethical and honest lawyers that still exist and I wish you luck to find one of them.

I don't think bar council can do anything in the matter. Is there any Rules of the BC, fixing table of fees for the advocates? Advocate charging fees from his client cannot amount to professional misconduct, If the client is not in a position to pay the fees, and if the advocate forced his client to sell his kidney or liver etc, or to keep his wife in his house till fees are cleared, that will amount to pofessional misconduct and not otherwise.As long as the client is in a posiion or good standing to pay fees, however unreasonable it may sound, why anybody should poke their nose in professional engagement?

@ N.K Assumi

You are supporting, using very substandard words like an Illiterate not befitting your profession, the unreasonable blackmailing of your counterpart advocate who is demanding exorbitant fee in the middle of the case after getting his professioonal fee already in the beginning of the case itself like a daylight robber. It showa that you are also a similar kind of my advocate charging your customers very unreasionably.

Whetehr Bar Council has fixed table of fees or not, is there no ethics or priciples/code of conduct/natural justice in every profession for that matter?

I don't mean to hurt anyone and if it hurts your sentiments with my comments I am sorry for speaking the truth. But analyzing the BC code of ethics under the Advocates Act, and the professional charging fees, there is no professional misconduct by merely charging fees though in the middle of the proceedings, as proceedings may change to hard nuts case, which initially appears on the surface. Regarding your comments on "substandard words like an illiterate not befitting your profession", I have no qualm about it, as there was cases when an advocate forced his client to sell his kidney to realized his fees from the proceeds of the sale, and BC initiate disciplinary proceedings, and also there was a case keeping client's wife with advocate, while the client was in jail, and there was disciplinary proceedings against the advocate by the Bar Council.But I have not seen any judgment of SBC or BCI initiating disciplinary proceedings against an advocate for charging exorbitant fees from the client, and that is what I have shared in the forum. Be it advocate or the judicial officer, there are limitations for professional misconduct and every acts can not amount to professional misconduct, as far as my limited knowledge goes by it.

Professional Ethics for Advocates, lay down by the Bar Council of India under the Advocates Act, on fees:-

Fee- An Advocate shall not accept fee less than the fee taxable under the rules...........

An Advocate is not bound to act unless his fee is paid............etc.

@ N.K.Assumi

Thanks for feeling sorry for my hurt feelings which shows your maturity and generosity.

Kindly know the facts. The suit property value is Rs 24 Crores approx. We 5, a mother and her 4 daughters who have been deprived of the house property by her son. are Plaintiffs and her son is Defendant. Our Lawyer has recieved his professional fees on flat basis at the time of filing the case itself. When the verdict has been given  in our favor he demands additinal fee at the rate of 10% of the value of suit property which is about Rs 2.4 Crores and asks Rs 15 Lacs as interim payment now and then only he could proceed to get Judgment copy and priliminary Decree. We offered him that each of us will give 2% of the net benefit we get which works out to Rs 8 Lacs each and 40 Lacs in total from 5 of us. But he demands 10% the value of suit property which works out to Rs 2.4 Crores as if he is like a coparcener. Is it justifiable?

Sir, no need to thank me or speak about my generosity, as whatever I stated is not my personal views or opinion, but based on the edicts of BCI on professional misconduct, and judgments of the Bar Council. LCI members can only shared views and opinion on legal issues, in public interest, without any authority of passing judgments. Regarding the issue of fees between you and your counsel, I would leave it to the best judgment of your counsel, and if you are not happy or content with his demand, you are at liberty to approach your State Bar Council against your counsel for professional misconduct.