Q: I was not aware that mediation was an option in the county where I live so I requested a mandatory arbitration hearing.
I was not aware that mediation was an option and I requested a mandatory attorney/client fee arbitration. Actually I was forced into it by my attorney who sent me the form notifying me of my right to arbitration. I basically stressed because I received it right before the 'cut off' date and just responded with the request for a mandatory arbitration hearing. I did this because I had to or just give in to whatever the attorney asked for , right? I met with an attorney (on an unrelated issue)last week who said it might have been to my adavantage to go the mediation route. My arbitraton has not been scheduled yet. Is it too late to say "I made a mistake and I would prefer mediation instead of arbitration?" Is this an option? Also, it has been almost 1 year since I turned my forms in for this arbitration. Does it usually take this long to schedule what will be a one arbitrator hearing over a $1,200 bill.?
A: Usually an attorney who hasn't been paid for her/his services is required to notify the client of her right to arbitration of the fee claim before the case gets filed as a collection action in court. So the attorney was following the steps outlined by the State Bar for a fee collection matter. Mediation is not usually an option in such matters, but you can write to your former lawyer and offer mediation instead of doing the arbitration, or you could simply try to negotiate better terms with the attorney. Most lawyers would be happy collecting something on the bill rather than have to arbitrate or even mediate. So write him/her a letter and make an offer, or ask for terms with an offer to take care of the bill.
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