Lawyer fee $8400, too expensive?

[Redbasil]

I just had an initial consultation with one lawyer firm located in my town yesterday. They quoted me...
$5000 for Labor Cert.

$1650 for I-140

$1750 for I-485

These are not including filing fee. It sounds too expensive to me. What do you guys think?
Also what are your opinions on hiring a lawyer firm that is not located in the same state as you are now? Please advise. Thanks

 

[worrieddude]

The point to note is whether the lawyer is good.

You want to ensure that

1. Case is filed properly.
2. There are no RFE's what so ever.
3. Lawyer is aware of all parts of Immigration laws. These keep changing.

Talk to a couple of lawyers, then you will get a feel for who is a good lawyer.

 

[simsd]

Wow,

Unless there's something odd or special, I was quoted $ 4,000 from PERM through final CIS documents - and that's from an immigration lawyer. And I have done work with this lawyer in the past, so I know he knows what he is doing.

Contact:

Clark Trainor

Tel: (800) 321-0627
Fax: (240) 282-7231
Mailing Address:
8201 Peters Road, Suite 1000
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33324 USA

 

[st4rguitar]

Holy... crap. That's a lot of money, especially considering the filing fees are not included. The firm I work for is highly reputable, and we charge about $4000-$5500 for all the attorney fees for ALL THREE STAGES. The other person mentioned as well the reputation of the attorney/firm - yes of course that is important and I'm sure people pay more than that for large firms... I actually heard (though it may be a rumor) of one firm that charged a total of $20,000 for filing the GC (in attorney fees only... wow.) One other thing you may want to note is that the EMPLOYER has to pay for the PERM GC fees, so if your employer covers that, it will significantly reduce your costs. Or, if you are an employer, why not negotiate a reduced rate with the attorney to file more cases? That's very reasonable to request. Good luck.