Is my attorney charging me too much?

[Go04]

Hi everyone, I'm preparing for my asylum case, I was first going to do it on my own but then after reading a lot of advice from this form and other sites online I decided to obtain the help of an attorney, I interviewed three lawyers and I really feel comfortable with one of them, she works in a top well known immigration firm in the city, she and her team are very capable. She charges on an hourly basis so her fees might reach a maximum of $10,000 depending on the hours she and her team put into my case.
I have already written my own statement, have the affidavits ready for her review and also have a lot of the evidence ready to forward to her.
Should I hire her? is she charging me way too much?
sometimes I feel no I will not hire her she is too expensive, but then again I realize I only have one shot at asylum so why not hire the best lawyer there is.

Please help me with your advice

 

[nunka]

Hi everyone, I'm preparing for my asylum case, I was first going to do it on my own but then after reading a lot of advice from this form and other sites online I decided to obtain the help of an attorney, I interviewed three lawyers and I really feel comfortable with one of them, she works in a top well known immigration firm in the city, she and her team are very capable. She charges on an hourly basis so her fees might reach a maximum of $10,000 depending on the hours she and her team put into my case.
I have already written my own statement, have the affidavits ready for her review and also have a lot of the evidence ready to forward to her.
Should I hire her? is she charging me way too much?
sometimes I feel no I will not hire her she is too expensive, but then again I realize I only have one shot at asylum so why not hire the best lawyer there is.

Please help me with your advice

According to mi that is expensive for asylum.you need a lawyer who will charge you a flat fee.and there is no grant with asylum.look for a lawyer who will charge you less.

 

[persian1]

to me; if you wrote your statement so you know every thing and do not need a lawyer. what you want a lawyer to do for you when you have all necessities. find a pro-bono lawyer just to review your docs and statement. ask 2-3 people, who know your situation, to write just one paper affidavit about you. Thats more than enough as docs. Most important thing is your consistency in your interview, just it.
good luck

 

[Go04]

According to mi that is expensive for asylum.you need a lawyer who will charge you a flat fee.and there is no grant with asylum.look for a lawyer who will charge you less.

thank you for replying so what do you think a reasonable fee is?

 

[Go04]

to me; if you wrote your statement so you know every thing and do not need a lawyer. what you want a lawyer to do for you when you have all necessities. find a pro-bono lawyer just to review your docs and statement. ask 2-3 people, who know your situation, to write just one paper affidavit about you. Thats more than enough as docs. Most important thing is your consistency in your interview, just it.
good luck

Thank you for your advice persian1, so you think I don't need a lawyer? I'm very sorry to ask but are you using a lawyer? and if yes how much are you being charged? I'm sorry to ask such questions, it's just that I need to make a decision fast
thank you

 

[persian1]

Thank you for your advice persian1, so you think I don't need a lawyer? I'm very sorry to ask but are you using a lawyer? and if yes how much are you being charged? I'm sorry to ask such questions, it's just that I need to make a decision fast
thank you

I done it by myself. But asked, researched and advised by many people in this forum and other places, constantly every day. believe me its such a phd research.
I don't know your personality, to me it depends on who you are and how much you know yourself, and how much its serious for you to fight for your life. If you are not sure then Its better ask a lawyer to review your testimony, application, reports. If your lawyer think you need a big change in your statement or other docs, then hire a lawyer or do extra research to improve your application.
wish you the best.

 

[april2013]

Hi everyone, I'm preparing for my asylum case, I was first going to do it on my own but then after reading a lot of advice from this form and other sites online I decided to obtain the help of an attorney, I interviewed three lawyers and I really feel comfortable with one of them, she works in a top well known immigration firm in the city, she and her team are very capable. She charges on an hourly basis so her fees might reach a maximum of $10,000 depending on the hours she and her team put into my case.
I have already written my own statement, have the affidavits ready for her review and also have a lot of the evidence ready to forward to her.
Should I hire her? is she charging me way too much?
sometimes I feel no I will not hire her she is too expensive, but then again I realize I only have one shot at asylum so why not hire the best lawyer there is.

Please help me with your advice

According to my experiences and visiting 8 lawyers, a reasonable fee would be sth from $1500 to max $5000!
Some of them charge you more because of their luxury office or ...

 

[Waz]

According to my experiences and visiting 8 lawyers, a reasonable fee would be sth from $1500 to max $5000!
Some of them charge you more because of their luxury office or ...

Hi Go04,

I do agree with everybody. The lawyer is overcharging you. Plus with asylum cases, one should not charge by the hour but a flat rate. I do agree with april2013 a fee of 1,500 to a maximum of 5,000 is fair enough. Have you visited the catholic mission or parish? They sometimes have immigration attorneys who charge a small fee to help applicants in their cases. You can also try inter students, I am aware they have no much experience but they do a good job in research and work very hard to win their first or initial cases.

Waz!

 

[MWDW]

If you have prepared all the statement and proof your self,
and able to speak/written English fluently,
you do NOT need a lawyer for the first phase (interview at asylum office).
Because the lawyer during this phase are not allowed to "redirect" you or present your case by questioning you.
they can only comment/stop the interviewing officer when the question is way out of context.
Since you had prepared all the statement and proof, that meant the $10,000 will basically be the cost of the lawyer
accompanying you during the interview for what most likely be between 1 hour to 3 hour interview max !
(and the cost of their para legal to fill, print, submit, post the application for you, which must be less then $100) !

If you get referred to immigration judge,
then hiring a lawyer might be worth it, because they might know how to prepare you to the max,
in answering the judge and the Gov. lawyer.
but then again,
if you know all the facts on your case clearly, you might be able to do this by yourself.

if you do decide to hire a lawyer for this first phase at asylum office,
$5,000 flat fee is the max.

FYI, if you ask any question at the avvo.com forum,
most likely you will not get any answer except the lawyer there telling you to go hire a lawyer,
and most of the time they offer themselves !

 

[sherlyjevan]

As per my view she is charging more money, even well experienced lawyer also won't charge that much of amount. So better to manage yourself only, anyhow you have prepared document yourself. Otherwise choose another lawyer, those who is charging less amount.