Learned the hard way that 'free consultation' doesn't mean free advice

I called a lawyer about a tenant dispute last month and they said the first 15 minutes were free. So I asked about my lease wording and they gave me some quick thoughts, but then the bill came for $350. Turns out the 'free consultation' was just them saying hello, not actually answering questions about my specific situation. The invoice said they billed for legal analysis after the first 5 minutes. I guess I should have asked upfront what counts as the free part. Has anyone else gotten burned by that kind of fine print with a lawyer's office?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_cameron9d ago

Hang on, what specifically did they say during that first 5 minutes that counted as "legal analysis" versus just a normal hello? Like, did they actually give you any case-specific advice or was it just them reading your lease out loud to you?

king.kevin9d agoTop Commenter

Doubt it was anything serious. I'm guessing they just read the lease out loud and called it legal analysis. If I had a nickel for every time someone billed me five minutes for reading a document, I'd have a few bucks by now. Seriously, unless they spotted a weird clause about rent control or illegal eviction threats, it's probably just a robot script. Ask them to point out exactly what law or statute they referenced.