Contingency Fee Abuses: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, First Session, on Examining Certain Contingency Fee Abuses and Their Effect on the Tort System, November 7, 1995, Volume 4Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche. |
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amount attorneys auto accident average awards claimants Committee compensation competition consumers contingency basis contingency fee agreements contingency fee system contingent fee arrangement contingent fee basis contingent fee lawyers contingent fee practice courts defendants defense lawyers Dietz dollars early offer early settlement offer effective hourly rate estimate ethical expenses Federal figures Formal Opinion incentives income increased Jonathan Harr jury Kritzer lawyer and client legal services Lester Brickman liability is clear limited Manhattan Institute median medical malpractice ment million Model Rule National Law Journal obtain payment risk percent percentage personal injury plaintiff's lawyer plaintiffs problem product liability proposal punitive damages rates of return reasonable recovery reform require Responsibility result retainer agreement screening Senator GRASSLEY Senator HEFLIN standard contingency fees substantial tion tort claims tort liability tort litigation tort reform tort system costs trial uncertainty verdicts Vuernick wealth transfer Wisconsin
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Page 79 - In determining the amount of the fee, it is proper to consider : (1) the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved...
Page 79 - Services. (A) A lawyer shall not enter into an agreement for, charge, or collect an illegal or clearly excessive fee. (B) A fee is clearly excessive when, after a review of the facts, a lawyer of ordinary prudence would be left with a definite and firm conviction that the fee is in excess of a reasonable fee.
Page 39 - ... raw material' to be processed to a settlement," and some lawyers speak of having an "inventory of clients" (Blum, 1989, p. 46). Rosenthal (1974) found evidence that clients who allowed their lawyers (who were handling routine cases on a contingency basis) a more or less free hand achieved less satisfactory outcomes than did those clients who took a more participatory role in the case. In a statistical analysis of cases from federal and state court, my colleagues and I (Kritzer ct al..
Page 81 - A lawyer entering into a contingent fee arrangement complies with the ethical standards set forth in both the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Model Code of Professional Responsibility...
Page 79 - Factors to be considered as guides in determining the reasonableness of a fee include the following: (1) The time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly. (2) The likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the lawyer. (3) The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services. (4) The amount involved and the...
Page 80 - ... supra note 4, at 87 ("It is not the actual effort expended by the attorney that is determinative of the legitimacy of the fee, but what a good faith, professionally informed estimate of anticipated effort and risk of non-recovery would have been prior to the commencement of representation"). (Emphasis added.) 22. See, eg. Chase v. Gilbert, 499 A.2d 1203 (DC 1985) (A lawyer cannot modify a fee agreement even if he ends up performing significantly more services than were contemplated when agreement...
Page 62 - ... Medical Malpractice Cases." 14 Justice System Journal 4. Daniels, Stephen and Joanne Martin, 1987. "Jury Verdicts and the 'Crisis' in Civil Justice: Some Findings from an Empirical Study." American Bar Foundation (Chicago, Illinois) Working Paper No. 8706. Daniels, Stephen, and Joanne Martin. 1993. "Don't Kill the Messenger 'Till You Read the Message: Products Liability Verdicts in Six California Counties, 1970-1990.
Page 51 - OOOto $19,500), and the lawyer effort ranged from 3 hours to 7,000 hours (median = 46, midspread = 26 to 135). In addition to attorney hours, I asked each respondent to provide information on paralegal hours. Many cases involved no paralegal time, but others consumed substantial quantities. To adjust for this, I subtracted an estimate of the cost of paralegal time (I assumed that the gross cost was $30 per hour). With this adjustment, two of the cases yielded negative net fees; the median adjusted...
Page 41 - Lawyers, particularly contingent fee lawyers, are gatekeepers. They control the flow of civil cases into the courts. Lawyers can exercise this gatekeeping role in ways that either encourage or discourage potential litigants. One popular image of lawyers is that they stir up trouble. Contingent fee lawyers are often stuck with this image because of what appears to be the logic of the contingent fee: they get a cut of whatever they recover, and without cases there is no cut to get. Undoubtedly, there...