Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Re: attorney fees

the $500 should have been credited to your bill and if that left a surplus after collecting the money from the manufacturer then you are entitled to a refund. ask your attorney for a full accounting of charges and fees.

Re: attorney fees

Hmm, let's see. You didn't enter into a contract with your attorney that said something to the effect that you were obligated to pay a certain amount of attorney fees upon conclusion of the case, regardless of whether the court ordered a third party to pay attorney fees, did you? Almost all fee contracts contain this language. You wouldn't be trying to get something you are not entitled to, would you? Let me see, your attorney worked on your case, an extremely difficult lemon law case, and won. Now you do not want to pay him a mere $500. Considering the fact that there are only 5 attorneys on the entire West Coast who practice lemon law, your attorney can ethically charge whatever he wants. You did not have to hire him if you did not want to pay him at the conclusion of the case. If you had a problem with attorney fees, you should have saved yourself some money and paid your attorney up front the 30 to 40k it usually takes to litigate these cases, instead of making him take it on contingency. But then the risk would have been on your shoulders and not his, wouldn't it have? Not only should you pay your attorney what he is entitled, but you should show your appreciation to him by giving him a bonus of at least $1,000.