My company had a fairly expensive lawyer on retainer when we had a $3-4k bill go un-paid and was forced to start a small claims proceeding in order to get paid.

My company had a fairly expensive lawyer on retainer when we had a $3-4k bill go un-paid and was forced to start a small claims proceeding in order to get paid. Since we had never been through something like that we asked him for help, and he did help us quite a bit, because it became quite a hassle. I assume that he assumed it would just be a couple letters drafted and they would cough up, but they really dug in their heels and used the dialog between the lawyers to extend hassle, and it took a bit more than a few letters. We didn't settle until the day before the court date. Needless to say the $500/hour bill for his services pretty much nullified the settlement, and when the process concluded he politely informed us that this was a little below his scope as our retained lawyer and to gladly not bother him again with things quite so trivial and time consuming.