I went to court to file a lawsuit. I am the plaintiff. I have hired a lawyer, but the other party is countersuing me. In this case, my attorney said he would have to pay more money to continue the lawsuit.
1. You originally hired a lawyer, and that lawyer represented you as the plaintiff in the case. This is a case. The other party counter-sues you. That's another situation. Then the workload increases, and if the number of cases the lawyer represents changes from one to two, it is normal and legal for the lawyer to ask for an increase in attorney fees.
2. You can hire another lawyer to represent you in your counterclaim. But my personal suggestion is that you are better off paying more directly to the original attorney rather than hiring another attorney from another firm.
3. Both the plaintiff and the defendant can entrust 1-2 people as agents.