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can my lawyer change fees after settlement?

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zippie2

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I was in an accident and the case has been settled. However, the lawyer is now saying he has extra costs and will end up having to take roughly half of the settlement and only give me about 1/3 after paying the rest for hospital bills. (Looking back on the contract it said he'd only take 25%.) I'm being asked just to sign something and my lawyer will write me a check. Something doesn't feel right about this. Is this legal? I get the feeling i'm being outfoxed. What do I do?
 


A

Antigone*

Senior Member
zippie2 said:
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I was in an accident and the case has been settled. However, the lawyer is now saying he has extra costs and will end up having to take roughly half of the settlement and only give me about 1/3 after paying the rest for hospital bills. (Looking back on the contract it said he'd only take 25%.) I'm being asked just to sign something and my lawyer will write me a check. Something doesn't feel right about this. Is this legal? I get the feeling i'm being outfoxed. What do I do?
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The 25% should be after all expenses are paid.
 
D

davidmcbeth3

Senior Member
zippie2 said:
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I was in an accident and the case has been settled. However, the lawyer is now saying he has extra costs and will end up having to take roughly half of the settlement and only give me about 1/3 after paying the rest for hospital bills. (Looking back on the contract it said he'd only take 25%.) I'm being asked just to sign something and my lawyer will write me a check. Something doesn't feel right about this. Is this legal? I get the feeling i'm being outfoxed. What do I do?
Click to expand...
What is he asking you to sign? A new retainer contract? Re-read your contract with your attny & see if he agreed to 25% and thats it. I had an attny write up a 1/3rd contigency contract w/o fees & office costs once & I only paid him 1/3rd -- he howled for a little bit until I asked to change it to 10% of the settlement.
 
J

JakeB

Member
Usually, the attorney's share (25% in your case) is just for his services. It doesn't generally cover costs from exhibits, expert testimony, or even paper copying, etc.

It's no different than if you had surgery. You have to pay the doctor, and that is separate from what the hospital or surgery facility will charge for their space, equipment, nurses, etc.

If you can pay all of your expenses and still end up with 1/3rd, then you're in good shape. But, like the others said, check your contract to see how expenses were dealt with.
 
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