How Does a Personal Injury Attorney Get Paid if Client Changes Council

[garyS-NJ]

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: PA

Client/Atty relationship has soured and it might be best to part ways. how are expenses covered??

[Zigner]

Refer to your retainer agreement/contract with the attorney.

[adjusterjack]

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: PA

Client/Atty relationship has soured and it might be best to part ways. how are expenses covered??

The former attorney sends you a bill for the hours and expenses incurred and you pay it. If you don't pay it he likely has a lien on your settlement or award and gets paid off the top.

You are likely to find that attorneys are reluctant to take on personal injury cases where there was a previous attorney on it.

What is it about your relationship with your attorney that has soured?

[pg1067]

Client/Atty relationship has soured and it might be best to part ways. how are expenses covered?

Let's assume that Client has retained Lawyer1 on a contingent fee basis. The agreement provides that any recovery will be applied first toward expenses incurred by Lawyer1 and that Lawyer1 will also receive 33 1/3% of the recovery. For example, if Client recovers $100 and Lawyer1 has incurred $15 in expenses, Lawyer1 receives $33.33 + $15 = $48.33, and client receives $51.67.

Under those circumstances, if Client fires Lawyer1 and hires Lawyer2, Lawyer1 will typically be entitled to reimbursement of expenses plus a reasonable hourly fee for time worked. If, using the same numbers, Lawyer1 has done $25 in work, then Lawyer1 will be entitled to receive $40, Lawyer2 will get whatever his/her contingent fee percentage is (let's say 25%, so $25), and Client gets the rest, which would be $35.

Of course, the retainer agreements between Client and Lawyer1 and Lawyer2 may call for something different, so the real answer is, "it depends."