I will pay a lawyer so I can get back to sleep

I am having a significant dispute with an engineering firm over fees.

The long and short of the story is that we started with a flat fee contract. I have been presented with an invoice for money beyond that flat fee contract. The firm states that they did work that is beyond the scope of our original arrangement. My lay-person opinion is that it is within the scope of the contract.

Loggerheads.

There are a lot more details but that’s the basics of the situation. And, it seems that everybody is pretty angry at one another.

I have offered to arbitrate the additional fees. They do not appear to be interested in this 3^rd party solution. The amount is small, though, and although arbitration could be at almost no cost, it would be a lot of time and energy compared to the size of the bill (for me and for the engineers).

This whole situation really bothers me. So much so that I am having some trouble sleeping.

I don’t mind conflict. But, I hate conflict with no apparent resolution. Yesterday, I decided that I needed to get this resolved – for me. That is, I need to move on and stop fretting about this issue. I cannot bring myself to pay a bill that I do not think I should, just to make it go away. So that’s not a solution. Instead, I have placed it in the hands of my lawyer. My instructions to her are not, “Fight this invoice.” No. My instructions to her are, “Review the contract, correspondence, and circumstances and tell me if, in your opinion, this invoice should be paid or not.” In other words, I need a professional opinion on that matter.

If she tells me that she thinks I ought to pay it, I will. Happily. Since I started The Flying Banzini I have pad every single invoice within days of receiving it. If she tells me she thinks I should not, I won’t. Also happily. And hopefully I will then get back to sleep.

Dave

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