What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My mother was involved in a personal injury situation where she sued two defendants on a fall where she stepped on a slippery surface in a parking lot. She's had 3 surgeries and years of therapy since that fall. One defendant settled for $125,000, of that, 40%+fees went to my lawyer and the rest went to her. Of the money that went to her, 24k was placed into escrow to pay for bills Medicare was covering + an additional $1,000 retainer for lawyer fees on retainer. The trial proceeded against the 2nd defendant and she lost the case due to some shoddy work (the lawyer never presented the witness of the fall in the trial) and the defendant was found not guilty. As the defendant was found not guilty, Medicare will cover all medical expenses. Her lawyer is telling my mother that her money that was placed in escrow from her part of the settlement to cover expenses is now his money since it will be used to cover his fees! So far he has obtained 64k from the initial settlement and he’s going after the 24k in escrow. He wants a total of 88k with my mother getting only 36k.
Does this seem right to you? His fees were already paid out of the initial settlement for work done up to that point and the additional work done was contingent on him winning the case since his payment is linked to settlements won. The 24k in escrow is already from the initial settlement split (her cut) and was slated to pay Medicare and I believe he should not be entitled to her cut. Can you offer any advice in this area? I know you'd need to see the contract and settlement document, maybe I can redact the personal info and show it to you if needed? My mom lives off of social security, has no savings, and is in pain every day. I don't want him to screw her over any more than he already has so your help would be appreciated.
Regards
My mother was involved in a personal injury situation where she sued two defendants on a fall where she stepped on a slippery surface in a parking lot. She's had 3 surgeries and years of therapy since that fall. One defendant settled for $125,000, of that, 40%+fees went to my lawyer and the rest went to her. Of the money that went to her, 24k was placed into escrow to pay for bills Medicare was covering + an additional $1,000 retainer for lawyer fees on retainer. The trial proceeded against the 2nd defendant and she lost the case due to some shoddy work (the lawyer never presented the witness of the fall in the trial) and the defendant was found not guilty. As the defendant was found not guilty, Medicare will cover all medical expenses. Her lawyer is telling my mother that her money that was placed in escrow from her part of the settlement to cover expenses is now his money since it will be used to cover his fees! So far he has obtained 64k from the initial settlement and he’s going after the 24k in escrow. He wants a total of 88k with my mother getting only 36k.
Does this seem right to you? His fees were already paid out of the initial settlement for work done up to that point and the additional work done was contingent on him winning the case since his payment is linked to settlements won. The 24k in escrow is already from the initial settlement split (her cut) and was slated to pay Medicare and I believe he should not be entitled to her cut. Can you offer any advice in this area? I know you'd need to see the contract and settlement document, maybe I can redact the personal info and show it to you if needed? My mom lives off of social security, has no savings, and is in pain every day. I don't want him to screw her over any more than he already has so your help would be appreciated.
Regards
