Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Lawyer fees are not added on to the award, and are negotiable. The settlements would be the same, whatever the lawyer's percentage. Lawyers might be reluctant to take cases if the contingency was lower (complicated cases can be a lot of work).
I think most injury lawyers charge a sliding rate, depending at what stage the cases settles. They take a lot of risk in opening a file - they might not get paid very much for the work they do in some cases. It is an unusual system, but necessary, where many Plaintiffs can't afford to pay a lawyer up front. There are not many professionals that get paid this way - can you imagine financial planners only getting paid when your investments increase?
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I agree with alot of what your saying.. But some of these cases are pretty cut and dry and insurance is more than willing to settle prior to it going to court.. Its pretty tough to tell how much time they actually put in the case, we don't exactly see timesheets.. But I don't feel making a half dozen phone calls and faxing a letter the insurance companies warrants a $5000 payout on $15,000.. My friend was in a pretty severe accident where he almost died, he was lucky not to have any long term injuries. His lawyer took over $30,000 off his settlement at the end.. He kept phoning my buddy and telling him to go for more and more and more.. Eventually the insurance company told him this is all your getting or we'll see you in court.. I think some sort of oversight is required if its going back to a free for all like before.. Otherwise it will be the average driver paying for all of this..