Can a lawyer change a contingency fee after the case is settled?

Question Details: My lawyer and I agreed on a 1/3 contingency payment if she won a class action suit. The opposition decided to settle the case for $400,000. Now the lawyer wants 1/2 of the settlement which is $200,000 and wants to give me and the other person on the suit, $5,000 each. Does sound fair?

Asked 11/2/2009 under Employment and Labor | 391 View(s) | More Legal Topics

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Employment and Labor Law Answers

I'm assuming that's $50,000 each, but it's still not fair.  You have a fee agreement, which I'm assuming is in writing (most courts require that, for contingency fees).  There might be some good reasons, based on the work put into the case, for your lawyer to ask for more, but that should have been brought up with you and the other class member before you agreed to settle this case.

Your lawyer might be able to ask the court to approve the higher fee, because it is a class action;  if that happens, you need to hire another attorney to resist this, because $67,000 (between the two of you) is too much money to walk away from.

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