Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California
After a settlement was approved in my case I asked my attorney
for a copy of all receipts for obligations that would be paid out of
the settlement and was never provided with any, other than a breakdown
of the liens that would be paid and that the attorney would take
out 50% from the gross of the settlement for his partner and his fees,
then pay all of the liens and whatever remained would be for me, which
amounted to less than 1% of the gross of the settlement. I have a brain injury
and am incompetent therefore I knew that the contingency fee was 50%
of the outcome of the trial, which we lost, but not for the settlement,
which I would not have agreed to if he had told me his fees were 50%
of the gross of any settlement. Do I have any recourse for his unethical
tactics.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Again, was there a written retainer agreement with this attorney? This is the first question the State Bar would ask if you filed an ethics complaint.