Hi all it's been a while and thought we were done with this but I need to ask a question. We mediated my wifes comp settlement about 3 months ago and had the thing all signed now her attny. has doubled his fee.(he emailed me yesterday) He says he has to go back to a judge and explain why a lien was released by the other side in the negotiations from a prior settlement. He was the one that brokered this deal and said nothing about it adding to his fee or it creating any problems. There were 3 legal minds in that room and nobody seemed to think it was a problem. I feel we should not handle this burden alone I think this should be split between both sides as far as his fee hike. Let me know what you think I have the final papers in hand but won't let my wife sign them until I have exhausted all possiblities. Just a little info we are in Florida and I haven't been on here in a while because I used to use the computer at work. Well two weeeks after we settled I got laid off after 10 years and I didn't have a computer at home. Drama you gotta love it and Hi Jayne when I first clicked on a thread your name was the first that popped up. Nice to see your still here trying to help people out and sorry for the long rant. Oh another thing how did the trip to Sarasota turn out sorry I missed things got hectic about then.
sounds like you deserve a better explanation then what the atty gave.
has your wife voiced her complaints to the atty?
the fee can be negotiated.
if his explanation is lame or he refused to lower his fee you can ask for a conference with the judge and let them arbitrate a more reasonable price. or you can just file the paperwork with the court along with your wife's written objection to the additional fee.
Hi 1171, my wife is a very emotional person and when I got the email I knew I was in for some crying. We talked last night and now I am drafting an email today to her attorney. She is just tired of seeing 1/2 of all that was settled on going to the attorney's (PI and WC) and she is the one living with the pain and I can't blame her. Thank you for your response.
1171 is right. You deserve a detailed explanation of his fees. Get it in writing. In Florida a judge has to approve his fees, so you should go to that hearing and fight it if you think it is wrong. You may also want to inquire with the Florida bar, but know that they tend to protect their own.
It's sad, really. The attorney is supposed to be there to protect the rights of the injured, but who will protect the injured from their attorney? Best of luck to you.
I'm in Pa., and when I Retained My Attorney, We had to Sign a "Contingency Agreement" that Clearly Stated the Attorney's Fees and how the Costs Incurred were going to be Handled. Does Your State make You do that also? The Judge had to Approve My Attorney's Fees, and I'm Sure if this Attorney doesn't have a Justified Reason to Raise Their Rates, Hopefully the Judge will put an End to it!! My Very Best to You!!
Roadrunner, as the others had said, she should have a detailed explanation on why the fees are more now.
I can't say much more from what you have writen, because there is surly much more to this.
Ok I sent a polite but stern email today. The problem arises with a lean placed on the PI settlement a judge imposed for like a set a side for future medical bills. Our atty felt we had health ins. and we would be covered anyways and no need for the lean. So we go to mediation and in the wheeling and dealing the release of the lean was worked in as part of the recovery. Now he is charging us to go back in front of that judge to get the release waved legally and he worked it into the deal. I'm feeling he knew it would come to this but we were not informed it would cost us. In his return email he asked if I thought he should do it free of charge research and such. I believe everybody should be payed for they're work but feel I'm being back doored on this. His last sentence was I don't want you upset or your wife what do you feel is fair, so maybe we can deal. I like this attny but I think he saw this in mediation as a bump and did not inform us it would have cost us. Maybe if we had known this we may have gone in a different direction in mediation. I hope I tried to clarify myself and Thanks again.