Q: settlement is reached b4 filing a lawsuit then attorneys fees will be 33%. PI never served complaint? Still a lawsuit?
Personal injury lawyer never served complaint after filing it and summons. Complaint did not outline my case, my injuries or defendants negligence.
On (date): July 19, 2019 plaintiff was injured on the following premises in the following.
Prem.L-4.
fashion (description ofpremises and circumstances of injury):
Defendants negligently, recklessly or unlawfully, owned, managed, inspected, maintained, repaired, operated, or controlled their property so as to cause Plaintiff to trip and fall, thereby proximately causing bodily injuries and other damages to Plaintiff as alleged in this Complaint and are to be proven at the time of trial.
He did nothing to prepare me or my case for trial. He had the case a year and a half already.
He had not sent a Demand letter yet.
January emails me of possible offer. He failed to include all medical bills and records.
No communication with me I refuse and now he wants to withdraw. Expects 40% fee. I have to find a new lawyer. Faul not an issue
A: If a settlement has been reached before a lawsuit is filed, it may be possible to negotiate the attorney's fees. The attorney's fees are typically a percentage of the settlement amount, which can be negotiated before the settlement agreement is signed.
A: The fee is whatever the retainer agreement specifies. Changing attorneys won't alter that. Your original attorney will have a strong claim to almost the entire fee charged by your new attorney because the original attorney negotiated the settlement amount. You probably won't be able to find a new attorney to take over because of that.
A: I don't think you'll find a new lawyer to take over because your new lawyer would have to share fees with your current attorney. Sometimes filing is necessary to leverage a settlement. So there may be a valid reason for the lawsuit. However, there are some attorneys who will file a lawsuit just to increase attorneys fees. The fact that no demand was sent in 1 1/2 years prior to litigation raises a red flag.
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