Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois
Settle with my attorney
I am in the middle of a lawsuit that appears to be close to settling. The lawsuit is against another individual who I know 3rd hand through some other mutual acquaintances. My lawyer has not been as aggressive in pushing the case to trial (or giving the defense the impression that we are pushing to trial) and has been more or less looking to resolve the case by settlement from the start.
In order to maximize my portion of the judgment and speed up the process I am considering trying to settle the case mutually between myself and the defendant outside of the lawyers and the court. In my opinion this would a win - win for both parties since I would be willing to settle for less (since I don't have to pay 1/3 to the lawyer).
Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't do this if in fact I can reach an agreement with the defendant in exchange for dismissing the case?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Settle with my attorney
The attorney wil be entitled to an hourly fee commensurate with his experience and skills for all of his work to date. Chances are that he will obtain a better result than you will, so you may end up netting less if you handle it yourself. Additionally, if you fire your attorney, the other side will know that you are unlikely to go to trial. Therefore, settlement value will be less.
Good luck
Re: Settle with my attorney
Also, did you not sign some sort of retainer agreement with your attorney? Circumventing him to obtain a settlement in order to avoid allowing him to collect his fee would probably be in breach of your agreement with him. Plus there's always the chance that you will not get as big a settlement on your own as you think you might get.
Re: Settle with my attorney
If you circumvent your attorney to settle your case directly so as not to have to pay 1/3 fee, your attorney is entitled to file a claim against you for the work he has done on your case. In all likelihood, that amount will be way in excess of the amount of the 1/3 fee plus costs you owe him.
It's called quantum meruit--that is a merited quantity--it's in fairness and is there to prevent people from hiring a lawyer, benefiting from his work and knowledge and experience and then when the case is ripe to be settled, fire the attorney so as to steal his wages for the honest work he has done.
I hope this explains why you should not think about taking away wages that have been earned for the work from which you have so far benefited.
Taradji Law Offices
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