Legal Question in Disability Law in Michigan

My attorney has taken over 66% of my pain and suffering 3rd party lawsuit. He advised me that if I accept the offer I would recover more from my auto insurance case. Now he tells me that my original offer from the insurance company has been taken off the table. It only covered enough for my chore service worker and he even wants 35% of that. He charged me over 5,000 dollars that he will recover from my pain and suffering. Out of 10,000 I only get 3200.00. 33.333% FOR HIM PLUS OVER 5.000 DOLLARS FOR PAPERWORK.

Now I do not know how to pay for chore service. He just told me that Medicaid has a lein on the money. I asked if I will get any of the money and he said I don't know. He now says that it is up to some panelof lawyers to put a figure on charges and settlement against my insurance carrier. I want to fire him but I am afraid he will then add more charges.I do not see how he can take paperwork fees from one insurance case and recover it from my third party claim? Something just does not seem right. Now I looked at an attorney website and found that his firm was reprimanded for taking a clients check and placing it in their trust. For some reason his firm is in a hurry now to get me to sign a form stating I am pleased with their work and responsible for any future medical bills. I said I did not hear anything about this release form when I accepted the 10,000 dollar settlement. He would not even tell me how much I would get from the settlement. He just kept saying I would recover well from my auto insurance company. What can I do?


Asked on 11/14/10, 8:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Timothy Klisz Klisz Law Office, PLLC

Your question is certainly legitimate, but it's possible the costs in the case have been great and the attorney is just recouping those from your settlement. Attorneys are allowed to take up to a 1/3 attorney fee in a personal injury case in Michigan, but this fee is taken after repaying the cost of litigation. Those costs can be great sometimes. Ask for a breakdown of costs or have your matter looked at by another attorney. Kliszlaw.com. Tim Klisz

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Answered on 11/20/10, 4:56 am


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