It pretty much ends up here or another court if a suit is filed. With residential real estate purchase/sale disputes there is often a contractual requirement of private arbitration instead of having the matter decided in court and only if a required prior mediation is unsuccessful.

With litigation (disputes handled in court) the process consists of filing a complaint, or a response to one if the client has been sued, attendance at status conferences, discovery, possible pre trial motions, court ordered mediation and trial if the matter is not resolved.

Fees are generally hourly or the representation can be broken up into segments with fixed charges as to each.