Q: I hired an attorney to sue a moving company that their three movers stole my 4 ft jewelry box full of my life collection
Court date is Aug 29th but the case evaluation was this week and they recommended a $6,000 judgement. We were asking for $22,000. The 3 suspects all had criminal backgrounds I found out through the police report. My attorney just wants to settle for that but I do not. I want my day in court. Is the attorney obligated to follow through with it? Am I obligated to pay him if he doesn’t?
A:
Do you have a fee agreement with your lawyer? That will dictate what you and your lawyer's financial and other obligations are.
You have a right to have a trial. However, you should talk to your lawyer about the advantages and disadvantages of having a trial. There may be a financial sanction if the Judge/jury finds no cause of action, or an award less than the case evaluation amount. If after speaking with your lawyer you are not satisfied, you can look to retain a different lawyer. However, if you retain someone else your existing lawyer may seek a lien on the file to get compensated for the work he or she put into the file.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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