Legal Question in Workers Comp in Pennsylvania

You certainly have the right to discharge your attorney at any time. However, discharging the attorney does not necessarily terminate any fees he/she earned.

You should refer to the contingent fee agreement that you signed. It governs what fee you agreed to pay. If your attorney "got you on the check" at the outset of the case, payment of an ongoing fee is certainly justified by the fact that his/her services generate the benefit of the checks you are now receiving.

The fee in WC cases is limted to 20% by law and must be approved by the WCJ or the WCAB. Once approved, it is generally payable for the life of your claim.

Contingent fees are unlike hourly fees. The amount of the fee that is earned is not necessarily related to the amount of the work done .I have certainly handled cases where I did a little bit of work and generated a large fee. Conversely, I have handled many more cases where I have done a monumental amount of work and earned a small fee. The "easy" cases allow me to fund my practice so I can help those with difficult or "no fee" matters.

You could have negotiated an hourly fee at the outset of your relationship. Hourly fees were the traditional way that a lawyer was paid. Such a fee had a more direct relationship to the amount of work done. However, it was payable regardless of the outcome.When it was the only way to pay an attonrey, many clients could not afford representation becasue they could not afford to pay an hourly fee regardless of the outcome. I assume, like most claimants, that such an hourly arrangement would not have been feasible for you at that time.

The contingent fee is a modern fee arrangement that places the risk of the financial result on the attorney and allows clients who would not otherwise be able to afford representation to secure representation. In exchange for making representation more accessible and placing the financial risk of the fees directly on the attorney, clients "trade" the right to pay a fee that has a more direct relationship to the work performed.

If you retain new counsel to assist you with any ongoing issues, that attorney may petition to have the fee paid to him/her. Any dispute generated by that effort would be assiged to a judge and you would be able to testify why you think assignment of your fee to your new attorney is appropriate. The WCJ would then apportion the fee as he/she deems appropriate based on a myriad of factors.

Alternatively, if your county bar association has a fee dispute committee, you might inquire whether they would handle your type of complaint. The committee is unlikely to be swayed by an argument that the fee is not proportional to the work performed. That is simply a possible result stemming from the "trade off" that is the nature of the contingent fee. You will have to convince them with additional reasons. And, there is a strong legal argument that the WC system has exclusive jurisdiction of such disputes.

This answer to your legal inquiry is based upon the limited facts stated in your question. Accurate legal advice is based upon an exchange between a lawyer and a client. The lawyer can then ask about other facts that may change or confirm the answer. Without that exchange, this reply should be considered limited in value. You should rely on this answer only at your own risk. Direct consultation with a lawyer is always recommended. Answering your question does not create an attorney-client relationship.