Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

HI, I've been working with my lawyer on a PI case, a car accident for about 3 1/2 years and have had many problems with him. First of all after two years he did a deposition on the defendent and discovered that he was named wrong because at the time of the accident the defendent showed me the registration which was in his parent's name. Why my lawyer didn't know this before two years I don't know. But this caused problems with the case and his lawyers, the insurance threatened to dismiss the case. My lawyer did argue to keep it going but we got less money because of this. Secondly, I went to a doctor on a lien basis. When I got the bill the doctor had padded it extremely, charging 3-4 times the typical amount for his services and even 3-4 times what is stated on his website. I've met with my lawyer to stratigize about the bill and then don't hear back from his for weeks. When I do call him he's forgotten what we talked about and has not called the doctor. I finally threatened to report him and he got on it for a short while but again has dropped the ball. We setteled over 5 months ago. He's charging 40%. I haven't worked with a lawyer before but this feels to me quite negelent.


Asked on 9/24/15, 8:08 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Stone-Molloy The Lion's Law Office

40% is standard for a case that requires a lawsuit. The out-of-court usual rate is 33%. In this situation, I would think the lawyer might do you the courtesy of lowering his fee back to 33%, but he's not required to. The chiropractor bill is also standard. They do the treatment but then often don't get paid at all on these cases; it's very risky to the doctor, that's why they charge so much, but they usually are very negotiable depending on the settlement. Again, the lawyer lowering his fee will usually encourage the doctor to also lower his bill. The important issue here is this: should the lawyer have known the correct identity of the driver prior to filing the lawsuit? Normally, if the mistake was innocent and there was no way to know, the judge will let you add the driver into the case. If there WAS a way to know but the lawyer just didn't do the work properly, then the judge won't allow the addition. And if the statute of limitations has passed already, then there is no way to re-file the case against the driver. The owners are only liable for a maximum of $15K by law. So you need to know exactly WHY the driver was left out of the case. If it was the lawyer's fault, you need to consult with a legal malpractice attorney.

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Answered on 10/13/15, 10:42 am


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