Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Ask the attorney to give you a complete breakdown of the settlement funds and how the money will be distributed upon disbursement.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change.

I agree with Mr. Kuhn's suggestion. In that way, you know whether the settlement is fair before you agree to it, and that there won't be any surprises once the check arrives.

Hopefully you agreed to the amount of the settlement so letting your attorney deposit the check into their trust account is OK. Sometimes attorneys get the settlement check before they have done the client accounting so this is OK as long as they give you a complete accounting before they disburse any of the funds. The funds in an attorney's trust account do not belong to them so you are somewhat protected. You need to make sure that the agreement only authorizes the deposit and not the withdrawal of any funds until you the client have agreed to the accounting that your attorney must provide.

Good luck and hope this helps.

No. As most of the others said, make sure you see the first page. Once you sign, you will have entered into a contractual arrangement. You should not agree to anything if you are not clear about what you are sure about. Also, make sure that the amount the attorney is giving you is the right amount according to your retainer agreement.