Legal Question in Personal Injury in Washington
I signed an agreement that my attorney would receive 40% of underinsured motorist claim settlement...I have received a statement with all kinds of deductions leaving me with $5,000. of the $66,000. (to include medical bills) arbitration decision. At first meeting, he told me that I would pay nothing more than the 40% of awarded amount. I certainly understand that I will pay medical bills, but weren't all the other things, like fees for requested records, consulting fees, postage/copies, etc. supposed to have been included in the horrendous 40% that was taken right off the top?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Ordinarily, out-of-pocket costs are reimbursed to personal injury attorneys, in addition to the attorney fee. However, read your fee agreement carefully. If there's no mention of the lawyer's right to be reimbursed for litigation expenses, then you may be entitled to that money.
It sounds like your lawyer had a more significant amount of work to earn the 40%, since the lawyer had to go to arbitration. This is the customary fee percentage for litigation. You MIGHT consider approaching the lawyer, given the large disparity between what you ended up with and what the lawyer collected for a fee. The disparity is probably not wrong or "illegal," but some attorneys will agree to discount their fees somewhat, under the circumstances you describe.
Good luck,
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