Client moves on after divorce, but unpaid lawyer's fee lands him in court

A Civil Judge Junior Division at Kalyan has directed a former client to pay advocate Harish Haridas Nair 35 Rs 50000 in unpaid legal fees along with 6 per cent annual interest and litigation costs after the client allegedly failed to honour the agreed professional fee despite repeated remindersThe judgment delivered on August 4 in Regular Civil Suit No 122 of 2024 came after the defendant failed to appear before the court despite being served with summons resulting in ex parte proceedingsldquoThe client got his divorce remarried and moved on with life The only thing that didnt move was my feerdquo Nair told midday with a laughHaridas NairAgreed fee Rs 50000Amount paid Rs 15000Outstanding dues Rs 35000Interest sought 18Interest awarded 6Time given to pay One monthHow the dispute beganAccording to Nair He was engaged to represent the client in a divorce petition before the Civil Judge Junior Division Kalyan The agreed professional fee was Rs 50000 The client paid Rs 15000 The remaining Rs 35000 was never paid despite repeated assurancesAfter nearly two years of followups Nair issued a legal notice on November 22 2023 When there was no response he filed a recovery suitWhat the court foundThe court held that Nair had successfully represented the client in the matrimonial case Documentary records established that he had acted as the clients advocate The agreed fee was Rs 50000 Only Rs 15000 had been paid The balance of Rs 35000 remained unpaidSince the defendant neither appeared before the court nor crossexamined the plaintiff the advocates evidence remained unchallengedWhy interest was reducedNair sought 18 per cent annual interest but the court awarded 6 per centCourtrsquos reasoning There was no commercial agreement providing for 18 per cent interest However the clientrsquos dues were legitimately payable Simple interest at 6 per cent was considered appropriate until recoveryCourt orderThe Civil Court directed that The suit is partly decreed The client must pay Rs 35000 Interest at 6 per cent per annum will apply from the date the suit was filed until payment Litigation costs are also payable The amount must be cleared within one monthNot an isolated caseNair says this is only one of several fee recovery cases he has filedAccording to him similar recovery suits involving unpaid professional fees are pending before civil courts in Kalyan and Murbad with dues running into a few lakh rupeesThe pending matters include Divorce cases Bail matters Gram Panchayat election appealsHe hopes ruling encourages more advocates to legally recover unpaid fees instead of writing them offTimeline2022Client engages advocate Harish Nair for a divorce caseDivorce case concludedClient pays Rs 15000 against an agreed fee of Rs 50000November 22 2023Legal notice issued seeking payment2024Recovery suit filed before the Kalyan Civil CourtAugust 4 2026Court orders the client to pay R35000 interest and litigation costsTrust comes at a priceldquoInitially I felt dejected when clients kept making excuses instead of paying But in this profession you have to trust every client When someone refuses to honour that trust approaching the court becomes the only option to recover a legitimate professional feerdquo said NairAdvocateSpeakHarish Haridas NairldquoI have argued hundreds of cases for clients but recovering my own fees turned out to be one of my toughest cases This judgment proves that advocates also have legal remedies when clients do not honour their commitments The client got his divorce remarried and moved on with life The only thing that didnrsquot move was my feerdquoExpertviewSanjay Mhatre Senior Advocate former secretary of the Thane District Court Bar AssociationlsquoClients sometimes fail to pay advocates who have represented them in good faith In matrimonial matters many lawyers also take up cases pro bono especially for women Courts have consistently held that recovery of legal fees is a civil dispute not a criminal offence Since civil recovery takes time many choose to write off their dues and move on However if an advocate can establish the claim with evidence the court is likely to grant reliefrsquo