Paying Attorneys' Fees Is Like Turning Out Your Pockets

Published: 24th August 2010
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Over the past four years, one sixty-year old lady has paid a monthly amount to a lawyer. The fee takes a huge percentage of the $101 monthly disability settlement she was awarded by the state compensation fund office. One lawyer has earned a monthly payment from a disabled miner for the last 10 years. The lawyer collects a big portion of the $134 the miner gets each month. When you would like to get more information on accident at work check out this site.

These are people who needed representation but could not afford exorbitant legal fees. One case showed a couple who received welfare. The husband was bedridden because of his cancer. Not only the poor are affected by this legal fee problem. The middle class is equally as affected by these fees on the regular.

One book about lawyers states that the American middle class is the hardest hit by lawyers fees because they not only have the money, they also have no power when it comes to state legislatures. What's crazy about this fact is the middle class also produces most of our lawyers, which the author states should be subject to psychoanalytic interpretations.


Lawyer's fees are determined by an hourly rate. One lawyer states that every other professional gets paid for providing services, so why should this be different for lawyers? There isn't anyone who would claim that lawyers shouldn't be paid for their hard work, but the problem lies in how much they are paid and for how long? Lifetime payments from clients are not unusual for divorces, injury suits, will probates and real estate investment. You will gain a deeper understanding about tac claims melbourne by checking out that resource.

There are cases in which the monies belonging to widows and orphans have been taken by the very lawyers hired to protect them. Charging far more money than necessary, some lawyers don't actually steal the money. They get it through their fees. A lawyer and his partner took nearly 60 percent of a six-figure estate for legal fees in just five years. The victim was a man whom the court rule unable to manage his own affairs due to incompetency. This particular case has a good ending; the lawyers had to pay the funds back. Another lawyer, who had a reputation for being a bit eccentric, brought the pair to court. He was the only one who would take the case.


Some media contributes the outrageous legal fees to shady dealings, because the court tells you what they want you to hear. The media usually will not report what the lawyers are getting paid for the case, even though this information is readily available for them to see. Bar associations aid in the hiding of such information. They have the reputation of keeping out of the lawyer and the client's relationship. Plus, these associations are quick to speak out against anything that could damage the reputation of the legal profession.

More lawyers are changing to the contingency fee arrangement rather than the generally accepted hourly fee arrangement. Of course there is no opposition to this by the bar association at all. This is known as a contingent fee. The lawyer will then get a percentage of the award, should the case be won. Twenty-five to fifty percent of the award is the most common fee range for personal injury suits.

This contingency fee arrangement is an American invention. You will not find this type of fee in a lot of other countries around the world, like England and Europe. In 1848 many workers needed help getting money for their on-the-job injuries, and that is how contingency fee arrangements were started. The contingency fee was the only means of filing a civil suit because they had no money.

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