Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

lawyer's piece of the pie

i was involved in a car accident(not my fault)and was injured. my insurance policy coverage includes a $5,000 medical limit (no excess, NO REIMBURSEMENT). a check was sent directly to my doctors instead of the trust fund set up by the firm(my negotiator was not happy). upon settling...is this $5,000 added to the settlement pot amount? does my attorney take his share (35%) of this $5,000 that was paid directly to the doctors?


Asked on 8/02/06, 12:52 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: lawyer's piece of the pie

Whether the money went through the lawyer's trust fund has nothing to do with whether he is entitled to a percentage. There is no reason a lawyer should be denied his fee just because of a mistake by the entity which wrote the check.

If the insurance company disputed liability and your lawyer helped get it to pay then he is entitled to his share. If he played no part in getting the money then he has no claim to any of it.

(Of course, my answer presumes that you and your attorney have a contingent fee agreement and that the language of that agreement doesn't specifically bar him from sharing in this payment.)

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Answered on 8/04/06, 4:00 pm
Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates

Re: lawyer's piece of the pie

This a recent trend among insurance companies. The attorney should have sent a lien to the insurance company along with his authorization letter. If the attorney through his efforts helped to obtain a med-pay payout, he is entitled to his fees for that amount.

www.thepersonalinjury.com

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Answered on 8/04/06, 5:27 pm


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