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My lawyer quit does he have any right to my settlement?

My husband has a carpal tunnel case open. His lawyer and him got into an argument because the lawyer said he had no case. We've waited for a year to just get this answer. A week later we received an email from the lawyer saying he would no longer represent my husband. The company my husband worked for then offered him some money. Which is way to little. But the lawyer is asking from damn near all of it in fees. Does he have any right to get this money since he quit?!

Update:

He didnt earn any money. The company sent us a settlement not him. He had already quit the case before they offered the money.

6 Answers

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  • 9 years ago

    We don't know what your agreement was with the lawyer, but if it was a contingency fee then you do, in fact, owe the lawyer a percentage of the settlement, as agreed. If you had hired another attorney on the contingency deal, they would have split whatever the second lawyer was able to obtain, but the first attorney would have a claim to as much of it as would "cover" his expenses prior to changing lawyers.

    In effect, you have "changed lawyers" without yet getting another lawyer, so the first one still gets the same amount as he would have gotten for continuing the case for you. No more, no less.

    If you have a dispute with ANY attorney over fees, consider the fact that there are licensing and ethics boards that regulate lawyers in every state and they deal with these questions regularly.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    If he agreed originally to take the case based on a portion of the settlement, then decided to drop the case, he broke the agreement and is entitled to nothing. If he was being paid for representing your husband and was therefore not entitled to a share of the settlement, he's owed his fees but no portion of the settlement.

    This all depends on the terms of the initial agreement. It sounds like he might have agreed to expenses and fees payable upon settlement. That is, not a percentage of the settlement but simply a deferral of the billing until later. In that case he's fully entitled to fees earned whether he dropped the case or not.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    It depends on the rules in your state, so you might actually need to talk to another lawyer (and pay him or her) to answer this question. Usually, a lawyer is entitled to payment for any work done prior to withdrawing from representation. I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but he is probably entitled to payment for anything he did prior to withdrawing.

    If you think the lawyer is being unfair in asking for money when he did absolutely no work, if you think that's the case, try to look up information on the Ethics Board your state runs that governs attorneys and make a complaint.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    i do no longer think you're telling the entire tale right here. i think of there are information you're leaving out. oftentimes, there are rules outlining whilst a criminal expert can withdraw from the case. Regardless, the criminal expert won't get 33% yet they are entitled to lifelike repayment for the paintings they did on the case. that ought to truthfully equivalent 33% in the event that they have documented the billable hours. Why might your criminal expert pay which you will get your photos? Your criminal expert does no longer be paying this. This makes even much less experience. i do no longer think of you already know what is going at right here in any respect. attorneys do no longer pay for their consumers clinical expenses. they only settle clinical expenses after there has been a freelance. you are able to no longer refuse to pay, via the way, your criminal expert is entitled to the paintings.

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    No. But he entitled to money earned while he worked on the case.

  • 9 years ago

    He deserves to be paid for the time and effort he put into the case BEFORE he quit.

    Yes, he DID earn money

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