Fees Stack Up During Legal Cases

One woman in her 60s has been paying her attorney a set amount every month 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. In that same state, a disabled miner has been paying his attorney a monthly fee for the past ten years, according to a local newspaper. The lawyer takes a huge cut of the $134 a month the miner was awarded.

These aren't the only cases like them that illustrate the detriment of legal fees. Cancer had made one man bedridden and he and his wife were receiving welfare. The difficulty with legal fees is not limited to poor people. The middle class population is just as affected by the monthly fees the lawyers charge.

Having property and money, with little governmental representation, has made the middle class a big target among lawyers, according to one author. 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.

Typically, lawyers charge an hourly fee for their services. 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? However, workmen's compensation awards are typically lifetime payments, so is it fair for attorneys to take a part of that payment every month as legal services? Some attorneys charge so much for divorce and probate services, real estate transactions, and personal injury cases that middle class clients are making payments for the rest of their life!

There are cases in which the monies belonging to widows and orphans have been taken by the very lawyers hired to protect them. Some lawyers don't actually steal the money; they just charge exorbitant amounts for their hourly fees. In one case, two lawyers acquired almost 60 percent of a huge estate over a five year period in legal fees. The true owner of the money was incompetent to manage his affairs, according to the courts. The good news is, both lawyers were ordered to return the money they had taken for fees. Another lawyer, who had a reputation for being a bit eccentric, brought the pair to court. Many other lawyers would not even think about taking the case, but he did.

Media sources make this issue worse. They don't report on all of the court's dealings. Though the information is on file at the courts and readily available to the public, the media pay no attention to the newsworthiness of attorney and guardian fees. The bar associations also do not discourage these types of practices within the field. They are vehemently against any kind of regulation of the client/lawyer relationship. Plus, these associations are quick to speak out against anything that could damage the reputation of the legal profession.

These days, lawyers are more inclined to accept the contingent fee arrangements over the hourly fee agreements, even though they track their time by hours. The bar associations usually allow the imposed 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. For personal injury and accident cases, these fees can range from 25 percent to 50 percent of the award amount.

America is the country that invented the contingent fee. England and most of Europe have taken the position that the attorney cannot participate in a lawsuit if there is only an arrangement that the attorney is paid if the case is successful. 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. The contingency fee was the only means of filing a civil suit because they had no money.

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