How does a contingency fee work if attorney was terminated before any litigation?
I terminated my attorney for lack of communication, after being notified the paralegal quit while obtaining medical records. (This being the reason I never received callbacks or email responses) No other work was performed besides obtaining “some” of the records, not even all were recovered. I in the end, requested my all of my own medical records, itemized statements, sent certified letters, and drew up my own demand packet with all the included information. I sent the demand packet to the adjustor after the attorney was fully off the claim and now the attorney is requesting 40% of the settlement but I did all of the work and litigated by myself. All they did was request records and sent me a copy of those records “AFTER” I had already settled the claim. Isn’t this excessive billing and unethical practice?
If you terminated them, they would not be entitled to a contingency fee percentage based on your agreement with them. Rather, as Hoffman explained, they would be entitled to the amount their time expended on the file is worth. That would be up to a court to decide if it got that far if you and the attorney cannot come to an agreement. Another issue for that attorney is if they perfected their attorney lien.
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They’re entitled to the work performed on a quantum meruit basis, meaning they must prove their hours worked.
You can let them file a fee petition or negotiate with them. But read the agreement first to determine what it says.
Asker
The agreement in hindsight states they can’t collect if they did not win or recover monies on my behalf. It says they can collect 40% if they successfully pre litigate, post litigate , or are awarded monies on my behalf. None of this was done as they only were able to request some records before being terminated. I am perfectly fine with refunding them for payments made for records requests since they actually performed the requests, even though not all records were received.
Standard agreement. But you are confusing costs advanced with attorney fees. They’re entitled to a fee for the time they worked on your case. How much that is will be determined based on time. You can negotiate or let a judge decide but you owe them something.
