This story leaves little doubt as to some of the reasons lawyers are so high priced that few can afford them. Bleeding their hapless clients to get the big bucks it takes to bribe politicians for special favors and perks is very expensive. It isn't just the law firms paying for special consideration from lawmakers at both the federal and state levels that costs them so much but they also contribute heavily to help pay the election costs of the judges they appear in front of almost daily. More than one way to bribe a judge. It is well known that debt collectors also bribe judges by giving them special perks in the form of trips to seminars put on by famous judges and attorneys as well as legislators in distant cities. They call it continued education for judges which is required of them all. Judges have been exposed by news teams who caught them out playing golf. They were caught signing into the seminar they were supposed to attend, stay an hour or so and sneak out heading to the golf course for a few rounds instead of just to a bathroom break. This is part of the reason why the little guy hasn't a chance in court. The judges have to pay back their bribes if they want to get elected next time. If they can't find one way to hand the win to the plaintiff's lawyer they will find another way. I am reminded of a California case that happened just yesterday. The defendant went into court for a hearing on his motion for summary judgment against a debt collector. He was informed that the court had reached it's decision the day before and if he wanted to present oral argument on his motion he had to notify the court the day before the hearing or the courts decision stood without a hearing. Needless to say, he didn't know about that trick so didn't notify the court that he wanted an oral hearing. He took it for granted that he would get his day in court. Bill Lerach Donated to Clinton Foundation Imprisoned plaintiffs lawyer William Lerach shows up within the 2,922 pages of donor disclosures turned over today by former President Bill Clinton. According to the donor list, Lerach gave between $100,001 and $250,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation. Last February, Lerach was sentenced to two years behind bars for his role in concealing kickback payments doled out by his former firm Milberg Weiss to clients. Lerach may be the most infamous lawyer to donate to Clintonâ??s foundation, but heâ??s certainly not the only attorney listed. A scan of the first six pages of donors reveals that Florida trial lawyer James Ferraro gave between $250,001 and $500,000, and Covington & Burling senior counsel Alfred Moses gave between $100,001 and $500,000. Story is here
I charge what I do contingent upon the case. What people don't realize is that litigation is time consuming and for every case I take, it means there is another one I can't. With that said, some criminal attorney's charge outrageous fees that I don't agree with. Conversely, I don't think a 40% contingency rate is outrageous in a civil matter when accounting for time consumption and the risk of loss.
I was wrong. I thought "Why are lawyers so expensive" was going to be like "Why are divorces so expensive?" Because they are worth it. Of course, a high bill-rate doesn't always mean high quality. Caveat emptor applies more than ever when lawyer shopping.
40% isn't outrageous at all. On average I'd say most attorneys are reasonable considering the time they put into their work. But I've seen lawyers charge as much as 25% of whatever the creditor filed the lawsuit for against a homeowner to do a foreclosure when the defendant didn't even show up to defend. Lawyers getting 25% of the value of a $100 to $500,000 home is way out of line. I've also seen lawyers charge as little as $250 to maybe $500 to foreclose on a home regardless of it's value then get into a battle that lasted for years. I've also seen the same type of thing going on with debt collection cases. Some lawyers charging way too much and some charging way too little all things considered. Most credit card agreements and other types of contracts have a clause stating that in the event litigation is necessary the attorney is entitled to reasonable attorney fees. Rarely will one see an attorney smart enough to submit an affidavit to the court stating that he has spent a certain amount of billable time broken down into quarter hour segments on the case and that his normal fee for such work is whatever it happens to be. $125 and hour, $250 an hour, whatever and that he requests that the court rule that to be a reasonable attorney fee. It never makes any difference to most courts what the attorney wants or how he presents it, the courts never fail to go along with it unless his fee demands are totally outrageous compared to the reasonable amount of time one would expect that the attorney might have actually spent on the case. On the other hand, defendants who submit a long laundry list of crazy arguments and documents they found on such sites as that ran by Dave Myrland, Sui Juris, theremedyisinthelaw.com, freedomlawschool, Irwin Schiff's web site (no wonder he went back to prison for the 3rd time!), freedomscry_lawschool, and many others richly deserve to be hit with huge amounts of attorney fees but usually aren't. Of course, those who donate huge amounts to political campaigns are those who are also high profile attorneys such as those who got millions for their work in such cases as the tobacco settlement litigation.
