My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Texas

First off, happy new year everyone! I hope that y'all are not involved in any sort of litigation like I am .

The situation is this: I owe someone $500 for some service, and due to a variety of reasons, I did not pay the guy until they sue me. Now, I do not contend the $500, and will be more than happy to settle it out of court, but now they want $2000, which is $500 + interest + lawyer fee ($1k) + court fees.

I have never been deeply involved in any lawsuit, but it doesn't take a PhD degree to realize that the offer is ridiculous, and I am trying to understand how these things work to offer a more reasonable amount. I have a few questions:

1. What is a typical lawyer fee to file some papers to the court? Is $1k reasonable? No court has been gone so far.
2. How likely is it for the Judge will award the plaintiff lawyer and court fees? My primary argument against that is (a) the plaintiff should have filed the charge with the Small Claims court instead, where court fee and lawyer fees would have been much lower, and (b) for the court to deter people from filing lawsuits of worthless amounts like $500.
3. How should I convince the plaintiff to accept my offer? My main communication with them is through their lawyer, and the lawyer's best interest is going to court to make more money, so I am not sure how to best phrase my argument.
4. Despite my writing English, I speak broken English. Is it possible to get a translator at the court, or inexpensively hire someone on-site?

Thank you everyone .