You got it...seriously that's not far from what my lawsuit papers looked like. Ask for way more than is possible to get what you really want.
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Dealing with personal injury lawyer - nightmare
- Thread starter Yanny
- Start date
You got it...seriously that's not far from what my lawsuit papers looked like. Ask for way more than is possible to get what you really want.
vociferous
Well-known member
im not surprised. Filing fees, copying, long distance calls, etc. are often counted against the primary settlement. the rest is what is split after the gov't deductible. many less than stellar lawyers hide this info on the 15th+ page of their contract. Diamond & Diamond was bad fo this. They had the lowest "rate," under 30%, but they billed for every second.
Whomever this lawyer is that you used...me thinks they suck at their job.
Never told, or signed papers without reading what you were signing?
Did you even sign any papers detailing the plan/arrangements/contract between you and the lawyer in question?
Lawyer is good at his job. You don't see him posting here.
Classic. Mortgage, credit card, car lease, informed consent form etc. etc. asleep at the switch of their own life. Homeresque. The dog ate my homer work. Nobody toll me nuttin. Sharp professionals and hucksters alike see this type coming a mile away.
You need to drive your own agenda. Don't be somebody elses' dupe.
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Roadghost
Well-known member
I got into a non-at-fault accident last year, a taxi turned left at an intersection while I'm going straight through and cut me off. I fractured both of my wrists because of this. I posted my story here and someone on this forum approached me as a personal injury lawyer. It was contingency based (7:3) I only pay if he wins. Now after a year has gone past, the settlement reached the end, we are receiving over 100k in settlement. This is where I felt they are trying to trick you, last week he proposed I would be getting 35k out of the 100k cuz there were other charges relating to my case, asked if it sounded good. I trusted him so I didn't think too much, said it's alright. He asked me to give permission for the payment to send to the lawyers office, I said OK.
A few days later I re-think, how could it be so little... they are literally taking 75% out of my claim. At that point I felt extremely preyed on. This is also when things got sketchy. I sent him two emails 1) funds distribution record 2) my confusion over my allocation, but he never responded this time. A few more days gone by, that's enough for anyone who cares to respond. I decided to call him to see what was up and confirm the amount I'd be getting. He was reluctant to tell me this time, he said part of the reduction was legal fee (I thought OK, that's 30%), where's the rest 70%, I'm only getting 35%! He then went on how much invoices I had outstanding this includes photocopy, paperwork, admin, stuff that he needs to get done to settle this claim. The final amount I am getting could go up or down when he has all the invoices. Wow I felt completely insulted. I was never told there were any outstanding balance that weren't paid off. In fact my accident benefit claim covered all of my medical balance with a few grands to spare. It's impossible to tell what else is there for him to deduct...
Anyone has experience?
Firstly, are you sure this guy is a lawyer and not a paralegal? Secondly, make a phone call to the Police, or the Canadian Bar Association and ask them what the limit is on what a lawyer can take for commission. I thought it was 20% by law. This guy sounds crooked. Perhaps you should consider calling a newspaper like the Toronto Star.
Sure, they got a settlement for the client. But apparently they're not good at explaining things to the client clearly.
Personally, lawyer sounds like an ambulance chaser. The good ones don't contact you to represent them.
Yeah, this. READ ***** before you sign it, especially important legal ****. Particularly (!!) when there's lawyers involved!
Just because there's a lot of words doesn't mean you should just skip past it and blindly sign whatever is put in front of your face. If anyone ever presents you with a contract and then balks at your desire to actually sit there and read it before you sign it, it's probably a good indicator that they're trying to pull a fast one on you. Walk away.
Seen this happen so often in the land of cellphones - people sign contracts that they didn't read and then a month or so later their $1000 bill comes in and they run crying to the media claiming ignorance or that they were somehow "wronged" because they "didn't know!". BULL. The contract and terms are always clear as day, failure to read them doesn't excuse anything.
Commission is separate from fees for billable services, which is what it appears the OP is getting stung with. Add the deductible on top, and here we are.
I thought my wryness was outstanding. What do slinkies and lawyers have in common? They're both fun to push down stairs.
Further understanding as to why our insurance rates are so high in Ontario. In this case, $70k of fees for a plaintiff to receive $30000. It is not only the cost of repairs and the greedy tow truck drivers driving up rates.
A relatively "minor" accident on a motorcycle = $100K+ This would have been a fender bender in a car.
No wonder very few companies still insure bikes.
A relatively "minor" accident on a motorcycle = $100K+ This would have been a fender bender in a car.
No wonder very few companies still insure bikes.
After learning this lesson, I don't trust any lawyer no more. But I fully understand they need to play their tactics, and to be somewhat cunning otherwise how could they win in court. That's what's they need in personality and it gets passed down to unsuspected client like myself, and in for big shock.
I'm going to disclose the person and the law firm, if I don't get a satisfactory result in the coming weeks.
I'm going to disclose the person and the law firm, if I don't get a satisfactory result in the coming weeks.
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I don't mean to be cute but I don't think it's good to trust anybody, ever, if it can be avoided. Do what cops do, treat everybody as a potential threat and act accordingly. The only people I trust are strangers in the middle of the night coming at me on a two lane highway. Are they sober? Of course. And the guy who makes my breakfast sandwich. Booger? What booger?
I would be very *very* careful about outing a lawyer (especially) in this sort of situation – if it turns out that you did actually 100% agree to the exact outcome you ended up receiving (IE, you signed a contract but failed to actually read it and now don't like the result you effectively agreed to) you may find yourself on the defendant side of a slander lawsuit.
Outing a lawyer publicly is something that you may want to, ironically, speak to another lawyer about before hand
Can someone explain how this deductible works, because it doesn't make sense to me, the way it's currently been explained.
With insurance, I pay my $500 deductible and my vehicle gets repaired in full whether the repair costs are $100 or $10,000. I don't pay my $500 deductible + the cost of repairs.
It would seem that the deductible discussed here is more like a minimum charge to avoid frivolous lawsuits, but then wouldn't the cost be $30,000 dollars or actual cost to represent, whichever is higher, up to a capped % of settlement? I must be missing something.
With insurance, I pay my $500 deductible and my vehicle gets repaired in full whether the repair costs are $100 or $10,000. I don't pay my $500 deductible + the cost of repairs.
It would seem that the deductible discussed here is more like a minimum charge to avoid frivolous lawsuits, but then wouldn't the cost be $30,000 dollars or actual cost to represent, whichever is higher, up to a capped % of settlement? I must be missing something.
I'm sure your relatives will be disappointed to hear that.
There are certain professionals that we seem to implicitly trust, especially since many of them are regulated not only by law, but by a professional association that can strip them of their ability to continue working. Having a certain level of trust is okay - and in many areas of law - you're likely to get the service you pay for. When your lawyer gets paid from the proceeds of YOUR award though, there is an inherent conflict of interest that they are responsible for managing. It seems okay, because the bigger the award to you, the bigger the payout to them - your interests align. BUT you have to take a keen interest in what is going to happen with the award, because you already know, they're not working for free, and you will have no idea what their expenses are if they don't disclose them up front.
Don't distrust all lawyers because of this experience. Learn from it, and distrust most of them
Professional associations are window dressing and only help the public/consumer in the most grave cases after much arm twisting. I'm not making this up, I read it in the Toronto Star about an investigation into the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. So I went ahead and applied it to ALL professional associations. I did that myself.
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This lawyer finally gave me the bill and contract, won't believe it. He gave me a breakdown of their expenses ($5k) with no receipts, and dare enough to tax me on this amount. Everyone knows expenses are not taxable, even says so in the contract. But it gets worse, $20k of outstanding medical balance (no receipts) they want me to pay out of my settlement. No mention of this in our contract. WTF? This guy is a joke, please beware.
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