CA: Fee arbitration - worth it?

[Naven]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Long story short, we hired an attorney 2 years ago to represent us in a construction defect case for mold in our home. After about a year, we fired him because we were going broke with no progress. Upon starting with a new attorney (contingency) we were enlightened to how little the other attorney had done, and how poorly postured the case was.

After we fired the first attorney, he slapped a lien against our settlement recovery for his outstanding fees, which numerous attorneys have advised us not to pay.

Our option seems to be fee arbitration.

I've been able to reduce the lien to $3500 (from $14k), but I wonder how possible it is at fee arbitration to recover more than lien dismissal - is it common to recover fees paid? This attorney just recently lost a legal malpractice case against him, so there may not be any funds, so I'm wondering if just taking the $3500 loss at this point might be my best option.

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Long story short, we hired an attorney 2 years ago to represent us in a construction defect case for mold in our home. After about a year, we fired him because we were going broke with no progress. Upon starting with a new attorney (contingency) we were enlightened to how little the other attorney had done, and how poorly postured the case was.

After we fired the first attorney, he slapped a lien against our settlement recovery for his outstanding fees, which numerous attorneys have advised us not to pay.

Our option seems to be fee arbitration.

I've been able to reduce the lien to $3500 (from $14k), but I wonder how possible it is at fee arbitration to recover more than lien dismissal - is it common to recover fees paid? This attorney just recently lost a legal malpractice case against him, so there may not be any funds, so I'm wondering if just taking the $3500 loss at this point might be my best option.

Thoughts or suggestions?

**A: your chances appear to be slim even if you prevail on a separate malpractice claim.

 

[las365]

Is the arbitration a free one through the bar association, or would you have to pay a fee as well as spending your time preparing and attending? If there is a fee, how much is it?

How much did you actually pay the attorney (the amount that you could theoretically or possibly recover a portion of)?

Is the attorney who represented you in the remainder of the case involved in representing you in the fee dispute, and if so, what is he charging for that protion of the representation?

 

[Naven]

Is the arbitration a free one through the bar association, or would you have to pay a fee as well as spending your time preparing and attending? If there is a fee, how much is it?

How much did you actually pay the attorney (the amount that you could theoretically or possibly recover a portion of)?

Is the attorney who represented you in the remainder of the case involved in representing you in the fee dispute, and if so, what is he charging for that protion of the representation?

Hi, thanks for the replies.

The arbitration would be done via the CA State BAR. There is a $1650 filing fee, and yes, my wife and I would need to take the day off work to attend (it's a 3 hour drive away as well).

We paid the attorney approximately $30,000, and he has a $14,000 lien outstanding to us (for which he has negotiated so far down to $3500).

The attorney that represented us in the remainder of the case will not be representing us in the fee dispute, and as I understand CA Fee arbitration, there is no representation, it's client versus attorney (?).

Trying to determine what the chances are of recovering some of our previously paid fees are, I don't know if that's common or not. I'm sure it's highly dependant upon the case and circumstances.