Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

No, you are entitled to impose your full lien on the settlement unless there was a prior agreement for you to take less. The attorney is using the hoary formula of 1/3 client, 1/3 attorney fees, 1/3 case expenses [including health care costs]. He might be able to argue under the common fund doctrine that he is entitled to a 1/3rd attorney fee for getting the money that does pay your lien, but that would still give you 2/3rd of the lien.

Normally if the provider does not reduce their lien the settlement does not generate enough money to result in the client and attorney accepting the lien. It is common for the provider to reduce their lien by 1/3. If you insist on getting more, that attorney will not send anyone to you for treatment.

There is also the rule of the "Common Fund" Rule, where if the attorney does the work to create a fund by which everyone is paid, then each entity that recovers is required to contribute to the costs of obtaining the fund, including attorney's fees, and he could legally force you to reduce on that basis.