Unjust Gain (We think)

[Mtbb]

Alabama. We have been involved in a lawsuit with a party which ended in negotiations and settlement. Our lawyer negotiated a sum of money which we did not agree upon (he went below what we asked him to without our permission). We declined accepting the offer. Next day, we get a letter stating that he felt the settlement amount was fair and strongly urged us to accept that amount, and, if we did not accept that agreement, he would charge us more. We approached the opposing party, discussed the matter with them directly, and got a higher settlement amount. The only thing our lawyer had to do was add the higher amount into a settlement agreement. Now, at the end, he wants to pull his contingency fee from the higher amount that we negotiated, not the lesser amount he negotiated. We feel that, in the real world, you do not get paid for work you do not do. We are the ones who negotiated the higher settlement. We feel we should get that difference, and pay him only on the amount he negotiated and felt so strongly that was fair. What can we do? What options to we have to protect our money? Do we have legal rights regarding this?

 

[seniorjudge]

http://www.alabar.org/ogc/rodp.cfm

If you feel your lawyer has violated the ethics/discipline rules in your state, talk to these folks.