Any lawyer or law students can shed some light on an issue?

[october88]

My dad was involved in an automobile accident couple years back.
On the paper that we signed with the lawyer they're suppose to take 25% of the final tort claim.

So we settled for around 100k as tort, the lawyer took their 25% but on top of that another 26k were taken away as lawyer's expense where they described such as printing out paper, gas etc. And another 5k for doctor expense that my dad had just saw prior to the mediation.

Is this common? or normal as how it is suppose to be?

Thank you

[EbonyRose]

It's normal practice. The 25% is the lawyer's fee for his/her services. The rest is the cost of your case and it almost always comes out of the final settlement. The lawyer does not pay for those, you do.

[october88]

thanks for the info :lol:
But my dad's pissed regardless lol, tort was for over 100k, he ends up with only 30k in his pocket.
:facepalm: Didn't expect the fees to be so high, especially when it's listed paper works, phone bills and gas fee etc are over 26k.

[EbonyRose]

[QUOTE=october88;14751149]thanks for the info :lol:
But my dad's pissed regardless lol, tort was for over 100k, he ends up with only 30k in his pocket.
:facepalm: Didn't expect the fees to be so high, especially when it's listed paper works, phone bills and gas fee etc are over 26k.[/QUOTE]

Oh I understand completely from your dad's POV. It sucks, but that's how it works. That's why lawyers make so much.

[komal]

If you look at your agreement, you'll probably see a fee plus disbursements (expenses) which he'll bill you for at an absurd rate.
Imagine paying for the lawyer's secretary to photocopy at $100/hour, that kind of stuff is what makes that part of the bill so high.

[dr]

That's an absurd amount to bill!

[canehdianman]

Have your dad contact his lawyer if he feels it is unfair. Everything should be documented and he is entitled to an accurate, detailed invoice.

If he isn't satisfied with the results of the chat with the lawyer, you can contact your provincial law society to have his invoice taxed. He will then have to show proof that the amount billed was correct and the taxation officer has the discretion to amend the final amount owing.

[Psubs]

The doctoring fee sounds okay but the other expenses don't think should be included if you settled on 25% of settlement.

[gwan]

[QUOTE=canehdianman;14751482]Have your dad contact his lawyer if he feels it is unfair. Everything should be documented and he is entitled to an accurate, detailed invoice.

If he isn't satisfied with the results of the chat with the lawyer, you can contact your provincial law society to have his invoice taxed. He will then have to show proof that the amount billed was correct and the taxation officer has the discretion to amend the final amount owing.[/QUOTE]

this !!!!
instead of providing a full detailed invoice that will be reviewed by the society, sometimes lawyers just surrender some cash
(sometimes)

[pimom]

$26K in disbursements for a $100K tort settlement is extremely high. There should have to be an expert report (or two) to ramp it up like that. Get the account assessed, and get the bill itemized. Your dad should have been told what he would get in his pocket before he agreed to any settlement amount.

[ShopperfiendTO]

[QUOTE=Psubs;14751608]The doctoring fee sounds okay but the other expenses don't think should be included if you settled on 25% of settlement.[/QUOTE]

It depends on the agreement.

I don't know how a law firm would [B][U]not [/U][/B]have fees and disbursements separate unless it also has the right to veto the settlement offer (which is practically impossible in these cases).