Complicated sale/attorney fee change

I don't know, what exactly is going on that we should know about?
It already sounds like your atty is agreeing to honor the commitment through the current contract if that works out. How many contracts do you want him to do free work for thereafter? Pay people who work for you fairly. You'll get better service that way anyway - you really want the attorney representing you to feel you are cheating him while he's working on your behalf for a valuable asset that you own?

Two things: (1) It depends on what the contract you signed with him says -- he may be allowed to terminate, he may not, etc. No one can really say without seeing that, but you should give it a close read and see what it says. (2) If he feels like he's going to lose money, he's probably not going to do a great job for you -- so if he wants out, you might want to let him out regardless. I don't know if I'd pay hourly, but maybe you can find someone else.

Depends what your flat fee agreement was? Typically $2500 or so is the price in NYC for a decent lawyer without any thing unusual. You may want to negotiate additional flat fee so that total is $3500-4k.

yeah, that's it, an extra $1000 will do the trick. Thanks 3000_mercer.

Thanks. I offered to renegotiate the flat fee and he said no to that.
Meanwhile the purchaser signed the contract last week. Yet I have still not heard from him.
What confuses me is that at the beginning, he said nothing about hourly ever being a possibility, and he never gave me any warning that this was coming. He set the fee - but now says it should have been higher.

There are (albeit slightly awkward) ways that the negotiation could have been made less labor intensive had he told me this would come up.

This is the letter of engagement:

"We are pleased that you (the “Clients”) have retained (the “Firm”) to provide the following legal services in connection with the sale of the above-referenced property.
SERVICES: We will provide the following legal services:
1) Negotiation and finalization of the Contract of Sale;
2) Coordination of lender payoff documents;
3) Coordination and review of lien search and property documents;
4) Attendance at closing; and
5) Completion of CD-ROM closing binder for the Clients.
FEES: It is agreed that the total legal fee for the above services shall be $XXXX plus disbursements.
COSTS: In addition to legal fees, your bills may list charges for disbursements which include, but are not limited to, filing fees, photocopying, certified mailing postage, messenger, express mail and such other costs incurred on your behalf.
BILLINGS: If payment of our legal fees is not timely made, you agree to reimburse our firm for any time we devote in insuring collection of our bills, including, but not limited to our actual attorneys’ fees plus costs and disbursements.
RIGHTS OF CLIENTS: Clients shall have the right at any time to terminate our services and representation upon written notice to the Firm. Such termination shall not, however, relieve the Clients of the obligation to pay for all services rendered and disbursements and other charges made or incurred on behalf of the Clients prior to the date of termination."

It sounds like the attorney underestimated the amount of work he would have to do on the sale even though you were up front about it. He's obligated now to complete the sale with you under his contract, but I could see how if the transaction does not go through he wants a different arrangement. It doesn't sound like anything untoward.

Thank you - that is good to know. Still, however, frustrating since I told him at the beginning that there was a second purchaser in the wings, and that there were a series of permutations which might require me to postpone selling until the end of next year with the introduction of another contract at that time. I had asked if the deposit could be rolled over to address these, and he had said yes.
Right before this came up, I disagreed with him about something that involves a significant amount of money. The conversation ended when I forwarded a communique from the attorney I had at purchase. Is it possible that his reaction was a response to having his authority undermined? Or perhaps he now feels wary of completing the transaction somehow? I am wary of the scenario of working with someone who has lost interest.

It's possible that that was the impetus for him to tell you he is doing too much work for the flat fee he agreed to, but regardless he is contractually and ethically obligated to complete the task in a competent manner. No attorney wants to be sued for malpractice because he miscalculated on a fee agreement.

CCL3, thank you for your perspective. Thanks 300 Mercer and HK306 for weighing in as well.

You already signed a contract for a specific flat rate for the initial portion of the deal. You have to take a look at the contract to see what you actually agreed to, for what time period and what kind of services. It sounds like your deal is getting more and more complicated and your attorney agreed to help. However, if the deal doesn't work out and the contract between you and the attorney ceases as a result, you will then have to renegotiate with them.