Reference no: EM133267067

Geraldo Hernandez, a real estate developer, was sued by six separate parties in six cases resulting from a dispute about the same development project. Geraldo thought it would be advisable to have all six cases handled by Robert Valentino. The fee agree-ment between Geraldo and Robert stated that Robert would charge an hourly rate of $450.Robert filed six answers that were essentially identical to one another. A few weeks later, Geraldo received a bill showing the same amount of time, and applying the same hourly rate, for the preparation of each answer. The amount of time shown on the bill suggested to Geraldo that he was being charged six times the actual number of hours worked.When Geraldo called Robert about the bill, Robert stated that since one answer took one-half hour to prepare, the other answers have the same value.

a. If you were Geraldo, what would have you done?

b. When discussing fees, what should Robert have done? What should Geraldo have done?

c. Was Robert's answer justified?

d. Were Robert's billing policies ethical?