QUESTION
my lawyer the past 6 yrs was disbarred
Asked on Sep 11th, 2014 on Employment Contracts - New Mexico
More details to this question:
If I get another lawyer and then win a settlement do I then have to pay both lawyers? Would they each get a third? My disbarred lawyer has worked on the case over 6 yrs and has turned over case file to nm disc brd. He thinks he can rep me even tho hes disbarred but I doubt this
1 ANSWER
Leaving aside the disbarment issue for the moment, when an attorney working on a contingency is replaced by another, generally they divide the fee between them. So if it is a 1/3 contingency, you recover $30,000, you have $3,000 in disbursements, the attorneys would split the $9,000 fee between them. So yes, both lawyers are being paid, but you are not paying any more. However, the attorney who has now been disbarred may be barred from receiving a fee for his work, particularly if the grounds of his disbarment are related to his work on the case.
Answered on Sep 11th, 2014 at 12:52 PM