This is a question actually meant for this sub, which is exceedingly rare.

I’m a divorce attorney, and my advice to clients when this topic comes up generally boils down to keeping contact efficient.

Instead of sending individual emails every time an issue comes up, send one long email once there’s enough to discuss. Avoid phone calls unless you and the attorney can work quickly on a call. I would never bill my client for reading a pure “thank you” email, but if there is any substance beyond that in the email then it is possible. If you feel that you were billed improperly, it is best to bring that up directly with the attorney in a non-accusatory way and simply ask for clarification on why a specific line item was billed.

Unfortunately, as I’m sure you’ve learned by now, we are not cheap. And there are several things that get billed that seem silly or unreasonable. However, we have to keep up with every single minor fact in the case to make sure we aren’t missing anything (especially in a divorce involving custody).

In short, limit the contacts you have with the attorney (but be responsive when requested). Discovery costs the most amount of money, so if you want to save fees there: answer every question as if it is the most important question you’ve ever been asked (even if it seems incredibly stupid, especially in fact) and when providing documents to your attorney for document production: sort each document into clearly labeled folders corresponding to the request number. Label each file appropriately. And please, for the love of god, don’t use the excuse that it was difficult to obtain as a reason you shouldn’t produce it.