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My attorneys sent a demand letter to an insurance company of the other driver who rear-ended me. About 30 days letter, before receiving a response to the demand letter, they filed a lawsuit against the other driver. I have been losing trust in my attorneys because they have misinformed me several times about amounts of money demanded or sued for. They gave me several different numbers in a single meeting, and said "The number really doesn't matter. No matter what it is, you're not going to get that amount." The amount of the lawsuit is lower than what they said it had to be. They also told me that I don't owe them any money if they don't recover any money for me. However, the contract says that "costs" are owed - not contingent, but fees (30% for settlement, but now 40% for lawsuit) are contingent upon recovery. I'm getting the sense that they are driving up their "costs". I also have the sense that they have violated privileges and spoken to a former boss. I asked, but they said no.
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Insurance & Worker's Compensation Attorney serving Towson, MD
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Sometimes if an attorney is not receiving a response from an insurance company to a demand letter, he/she will file a lawsuit to prove to the insurance company that he/she is not afraid to litigate the matter. Perhaps that is what your attorney is doing.
For legal reasons, a lawyer always demands more in a demand letter or in a lawsuit than what the claim is actually worth.
Your contingency contract sound very similar to those that I have used for over 18 years at 4 different law firms. The only suggestion that I have is that you should confirm whether the costs are waived if there is no recovery. Most but not all attorneys waive the costs if there is no recovery.
Good luck with this matter.
Answered on Sep 10th, 2012 at 9:45 AM