Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

If an attorney forgot to get a signed contingency fee agreement for his services, is there a attorney /client relationship? is the attorney entitled to the 33.3% of the settlement. i am not in agreement to the settlement i was forced to sign and threatened by his paralegal that if i didn't sign they would not represent me at trial. i would be on my own even though they filed the lawsuit and brief. i was coerced. this is a mold related case were a state hygenist preformed testing for fungal and fecalcolform contamination. levels were toxic and airborne. none of my evidence was available, nor were my witness contacted. the attorney hired a contracted attorney to attend the mediation and she had no knowledge of my case. the paralegal made all the decisions and would leave the room never sharing information with me. i suffer from a mental illness and was denied ada accomendations for this mediation. what can i do????


Asked on 7/12/12, 11:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

That sounds highly unusual. A contingency fee agreement with an attorney must be in writing. An oral agreement is insufficient. The attorney who fails to get a written contingency fee agreement with the client is limited to recovery for the reasonable value of his or her services. You mention signing an agreement, but I assume that was the settlement agreement with the other side.

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Answered on 7/23/12, 4:07 pm


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