A lawyer has charged a monthly fee of a sixty year-old woman for the past four years. She was awarded $101 per month in a disability case. The lawyer now takes a large percentage of the payout. Another lawyer has collected a monthly payment from a disabled miner for the last ten years. The attorney in question helped the disabled miner receive his $134 monthly pension.
These cases clearly show how the poor can?t afford legal fees. They certainly are not unusual. The disabled woman’s husband is bedridden with Cancer, and they receive welfare benefits. Poor clients are not the only ones with difficulty paying legal fees. The middle class suffer from high legal services bills.
It has been suggested by one author in his book about attorneys that the American middle class is the most common victim of lawyers because they have property and scant funds, but lack adequate representation in the state legislatures. It is interesting to note that this class also gives us the most lawyers, so it would be interesting to psychoanalzye the situation, according to the author.
Usually, lawyers fees are calculated on an hourly basis. One lawyer who concentrates on compensation cases argues that doctors and plumbers are paid on an hourly basis, so why shouldn’t attorneys be paid hourly? While it is general concensus that attorneys should be paid for their time, there is still the argument that perhaps they should not be allowed to charge such high fees for compensation-type cases where the payments are over a lifetime. Lifetime payments from clients are not unusual for divorces, injury suits, will probates and real estate investment.
Some unscrupulous lawyers have even stole money from the widows and orphans they were hired to safeguard. Of course, those are the obvious ones, unlike those that rob you by charging large fees for their services. One partnership charged so much in fees, it took approximately 60 per cent of an estate worth six figures! Having been ruled incompetent by the court, the owner of the estate did not manage his own affairs. The partners involved in this case were ordered to make restitution to the estate for the monies they took. The lawyer who brought the case against them was considered eccentric by his peers. He was the only lawyer who would take the case.
The media essentially contributes and encourages these improper and unethical dealings by only superficially treating the court system and the information as news sources. The media won?t report the legal fees garnered by guardians and lawyers. This information is readily available from the court. The local bar associations do their best to maintain an image, as well. They don?t want any changes made to the relationship between client and lawyer. Plus, these associations are quick to speak out against anything that could damage the reputation of the legal profession.
Sometimes a lawyer will only accept a percentage of any winnings. They don’t charge an hourly rate. One lawyer is an ardent proponent of set minimum fee agreements. Another term for the percentage agreement is contingent fee, and the lawyer will gain a certain percent of the total compensation if the case is won. Twenty-five to fifty percent is the normal range paid in personal injury suits.
America is the country that invented the contingent fee. You will not find this type of fee in a lot of other countries around the world, like England and Europe. Around 1848 is when the first contingent fees were put in action, and it was in order to help workers who received on the job injuries. These workers were unable to pay the lawyers fees, so the contingent fee would assure they were paid for their services.
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