But even if it does not work out, a good faith effort by the party requesting arbitration to resolve the dispute without the necessity of outside intervention is a prerequisite to Fee Arbitration. The State Bar of Georgia, on behalf of the Georgia Supreme Court, administers as a service to both the general public and lawyers of Georgia the Fee Arbitration program. The actual arbitration is a hearing conducted by one or more persons not involved in the dispute. In most cases, two experienced attorneys and one non-lawyer public member serve as the arbitrators. Like judges, they hear the arguments on both sides and decide the outcome of the dispute.
Arbitration is impartial and usually less expensive than going to court.
The purpose of the program is to provide a convenient mechanism for the resolution of disputes between lawyers and clients over fees. In general, all disputes between clients and their attorneys over fees may be arbitrated. There are a few exceptions as follows. Fees charged by a lawyer who is, or who was when the services were performed, not licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia. Cases involving services performed outside of Georgia or from an office located outside of Georgia.