subject: Lawyers Can Help You, But They Will Get Their Share [print this page] One woman in her 60s has been paying her attorney a set amount every month for the past four years. The fee takes a huge percentage of the $101 monthly disability settlement she was awarded by the state compensation fund office. One lawyer has earned a monthly payment from a disabled miner for the last 10 years. The disabled miner won a whopping $134 a month pension with the help of this attorney, who is collecting a portion of that payment every month.
These are people who needed representation but could not afford exorbitant legal fees. The woman referenced above has a terminally ill husband and they receive welfare. Not only the poor are affected by this legal fee problem. It riddles the middle class wallet, as well.
The American middle class is targeted with exorbitant legal fees because they have the money and resources to be able to make regular payments, yet lack adequate representation in the state legislature. Ironically, most of the attorneys in the U.S. were born into the middle class, so the potential interpretation is that they subconsciously hate the middle class from whence they came.
Usually, lawyers fees are calculated on an hourly basis. According to lawyers, plumbers and doctors get paid for their work, so why shouldn't they? While it is general concensus that attorneys should be paid for their time, there is still the argument that perhaps they should not be allowed to charge such high fees for compensation-type cases where the payments are over a lifetime. Lifetime payments from clients are not unusual for divorces, injury suits, will probates and real estate investment.
Then there are attorneys who steal the very money that they are supposed to be managing for widows and orphans. Charging far more money than necessary, some lawyers don?t actually steal the money. They get it through their fees. One partnership charged so much in fees, it took approximately 60 per cent of an estate worth six figures! Having been ruled incompetent by the court, the owner of the estate did not manage his own affairs. This particular case has a good ending; the lawyers had to pay the funds back. One lawyer, not widely accepted by his peers, sued the other lawyers to get the money back. He was the only lawyer who would take the case.
Some media contributes the outrageous legal fees to shady dealings, because the court tells you what they want you to hear. Though the fees awarded guardians and lawyers are certainly newsworthy, this isn't widely reported. It is easily seen at local courts. Bar associations exert pressure, as well. They are constantly defending the relationship between the client and the lawyer, stating there shouldn't be any interference between the two. They do not hesitate to slap down any negative attitude toward the legal profession, should it be called out in the media.
Though legal fees are usually determined by hours spent on the case, sometimes lawyers will only take a percentage of the award as payment. Plus, the bar associations support attorneys in their insistence of a minimum fee agreement with clients. A contingent fee agreement states that the attorney will receive a percentage of the monies awarded if the case is successful. Depending on the state and attorney, the percentage can be anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent in personal injury matters.
This fee is purely an American invention, very much like poker. You will not find this type of fee in a lot of other countries around the world, like England and Europe. Around 1848 is when the first contingent fees were put in action, and it was in order to help workers who received on the job injuries. They didn't have any money to file a civil suit, so the contingency fee solved the problem.
by: Daniel Sullivan
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