is it legal for a firm to keep almost 100% of a claim payable to you

Your employment agreement with your attorney will determine how much of any settlement proceeds you are entitled to receive.  It is common for asbestos exposure claims to be handled on a contingency fee with the law firm advancing out-of-pocket expenses, including the cost for expert witnesses. It is not uncommon for these expenses in an asbestos case to be tens of thousands of dollars.It is also common that these expenses, or your pro rata share of these expenses if the law firm is handling several claims for many plaintiffs against the same defendant, are deducted from any settlement first, before the remainder is divided between you and your attorney according to the agreed percentages.Your attorney, or the law firm, should give you an itemized statement of all out-of-pocket expenses which they are deducting from your settlement, along with any calculation reflecting how they allocated your pro rate share of such costs.  While they are not required to provide supporting documentation--like receipts or invoices from expert witnesses--you are entitled to request and received copies of the backup documentation.What constitutes a legitimate case expense largely depends on the language of your agreement with your attorney.  Things that are often questionable include meals, mileage, telephone charges, computer-assisted legal research, in-firm copy costs, and charges for sending or receiving facsimiles.  In the absence of express language in your agreement including these items, clients can often challenge these types of "out-of-pocket" expenses.