Oklahoma City family law attorney and litigator Laura McConnell-Corbyn knows what it's like to encounter a client who cannot, or for some reason will not, pay legal fees.

Lawsuits and family legal situations can get sticky, leaving participants upset for one reason or another, even if they win their case.

"Sometimes, it's because that individual just hit a hard time and they don't have the money to pay," McConnell-Corbyn said. "It's not that they're dissatisfied or that they're bad people. "

Other times, she said, clients may intentionally choose not to pay.

"In both of those situations, we have ethical responsibilities," McConnell-Corbyn said. "If we are going to cease or terminate a representation, we have to do it in such a way that isn't going to cause a terrible impact on our client."

If such a circumstance occurs in the middle of certain types of litigation, she said, attorneys must seek court permission to withdraw.

"There are sometimes situations where I might be involved in a matter and it's clear to me that I'm not going to get paid, or the client's going to have difficulty paying me," she said. "If I ask the court for permission to withdraw, the court may well say no. "

For example, McConnell-Corbyn, who is with the Hartzog Conger law firm, said courts are reluctant to leave clients unrepresented immediately before a trial.

"I'm a part of a bigger process in litigation, using the court system, and being involved in that, I can't just abandon the client or the court system," she said.

Absent a matter where an attorney has entered an appearance and must receive the court's permission to withdraw, McConnell-Corbyn said she tries to watch billings and communicate with clients about their case's status, talking with them about any potential problems she sees developing.

She tries to determine whether the client has just hit a rough financial patch or merely doesn't want to pay.

"When I determine that it's a client that isn't going to pay, I have a communication with them about what's going on," McConnell-Corbyn said. "I try to withdraw in a manner that will cause them the least amount of discomfort. But we are entitled to be paid for our services. "

Legal ethics rules allow attorneys to withdraw if a client is not fulfilling his or her contractual obligation to pay, she said.

Appellate work is a separate process.

"I try to structure my retention with a client such that we make a new agreement at the start of an appeal, or they know that I'm being retained for this matter, I'm not being retained for the appeal," she said. "Then if an appeal happens, we talk again and kind of start all over again on the retention. "

There's a good reason for that.

"Obviously, if the client owes me a lot of money, I wouldn't want to have an obligation to represent them on an appeal that they might have filed," McConnell-Corbyn said.

It's best, she said, for the attorney and client to go into a legal matter with a clear understanding of what's expected, and how a case might progress.

McConnell-Corbyn said lawyers have collection avenues similar to other businesses, including filing a lawsuit.

Sometimes clients will claim an attorney did not do a good job for them, she added.

"We know when we file a suit against somebody that there's a risk they'll try to come back and get out of making the payments," she said.

However, McConnell-Corbyn said attorneys hope they are mindful enough not to get into a situation where legal fees present such a hardship that a case results in a "huge receivable. "

McConnell-Corbyn said she gets a retainer in almost all of her family law cases.

When it comes to clients with whom she has an ongoing, established relationship, she may not ask for a retainer.

McConnell-Corbyn said litigation is a unique area of law.

"You really do have to have a crystal ball to know how much something's going to cost," she said.

Clients may ask how much their divorce or other matter will cost, but situations vary so widely that may be impossible, she said.

Criminal cases are also a special kind of legal animal.

"It's a real common problem among lawyers that handle criminal cases," said Oklahoma City attorney Irven Box said of unpaid fees.

He said it's common wisdom among the defense bar that if attorneys don't get their fees upfront, they may not be paid at all.

Box said he represents some lower-income people to whom he offers payout plans.

"One of the things that most lawyers do is that, before you finish the case, you get your fee," he said. "The common problem is that people either get good results and think 'Well, gosh, I really didn't need a lawyer that bad after all,' so they don't pay the fee, or they get bad results and say, 'Why should I pay now, because look what results I've got. '"

If a criminal defense attorney hasn't received a full fee by the time of a final court appearance, he or she is probably not going to be paid, he said.

Box said attorneys may sue, and can now take cases of up to $6,000 to small claims court. He said he has never had to do that.

"My belief is that if I'm not smart enough to get the fee by the time I finish the case, and haven't done that, then I move on to the next case," he said.

Box said that sometimes attorneys may take notes, mortgages or vehicle titles to hold until a fee is paid.

Box said lawyers sometimes get criminal cases continued to allow time to get their fees paid up. He said that courts in some counties are more receptive to that than others.

Between the current economic crunch, legal fees, and court costs and fees he described as "horrendous," Box said cases can be expensive for clients. For example, he said costs in a typical DUI case can range up to $1,400 or so, plus bondsman fees.

"It's a growing problem," Box said.