If you are thinking of hiring a Los Angeles Lawyer, in order to file a lawsuit against some person, company, government agency, or legal entity of any sort, you really want to retain an attorney on a “CONTINGENCY” basis, meaning, if you win, the attorney takes a percentage, but if you do NOT win, then you – in most cases – owe the attorney NOTHING. (The alternative is to hire the attorney on either an hourly basis, or for a flat fee.)
Of course, it’s hard to generalize about this. In many cases, if you can afford it, it is worth negotiating an affordable hourly rate with your Real Estate Attorney, or perhaps an affordable flat fee for the entire project. But if you’re looking for capable representation, with no charge upfront, then it’s a Contingency Fee that you want.
The following is a very much OVER-SIMPLIFIED chart showing which cases will most likely qualify for a “CONTINGENCY” arrangement, and which will likely NOT qualify:
| CONTINGENCY – YES | CONTINGENCY – NO |
|
Auto accident with serious BODILY INJURY; |
Auto accident with only Property Damage, and no serious bodily injury; |
| Slip & Fall / with MAJOR Medical Expenses; | Slip & Fall / with only minor Medical Expenses; |
| Slip & Fall / on a Municipal Sidewalk, where the gap between mis-alligned sections of pavement is equal to, or greater than ( > ) Three-Quarters ( 0.75 ) of an inch; | Slip & Fall / on a Municipal Sidewalk, where the gap between mis-alligned sections of pavement is less than ( < ) Three-Quarters ( 0.75 ) of an inch; |
| Accident occurred RECENTLY; | Accident occurred a LONG TIME AGO; |
| Lawsuit has NOT yet been filed; | Existing lawsuit well underway; |
| Other attorney retained previously | NO prior attorney involved; |
| Food poisoning / packaged product; | Food poisoning / moldy or spoiled fruits; |
| Food poisoning / proximately causing on-going health issues; | Food poisoning / client is doing fine now; |
| Wrongful Termination / Prohibited reason; | Wrongful Termination / Justifiable reason; |
| -- NEVER -- | Family Law / Divorce / -- ALWAYS – |
|
Auto Air-Bags / deployed, when they should not have deployed, and thereby caused serious injury; |
Auto Air-Bags / failed to deploy; |
| Life-Threatening Landlord / Tenant issues; | Landlord / Tenant with Habitability issues ther than ones that are either life-threatening, or may cause grave illness and/or bodily injury; |
| Breach of Lease / where there is a Personal Guarantee, possible fraud, and the Personal Guarantor has substantial assets; Breach of Lease / where there is a Personal Guarantee, possible fraud, and the Personal Guarantor has substantial assets; | Breach of Lease / with NO Personal Guarantee or fraud; |
| Debt Collection / where the amount of money potentially recoverable is very large / and the attorney in question operates a Collection Agency, and is a Specialist in Debt Collection; | Debt Collection / where the amount of money potentially recoverable is modest, and the attorney does not operate a Collection Agency, and is not a Specialist in Debt Collection; |
| Plastic/Cosmetic Surgery / where the result is demonstrably worse than before, with seriously negative health and/or cosmetic consequences; | Plastic/Cosmetic Surgery / where there is simply little or NO improvement from before; |
| Insurance Bad Faith / if the Insurance Company’s Liability is very clear and HUGE; | Insurance Bad Faith / otherwise / such as late payment of premium; or limitations on Liability; |
| -- NEVER -- | Auto accident caused by Fire or Police Dept.; |
| -- NEVER -- | Defamation or Slander claims; like “Police Brutality” claims, below, this is just one of those areas where everyone thinks that they should be compensated for a mean, cruel, rude and wrong Yelp Review … but legally, it just does NOT work that way; |
| -- NEVER -- | Malicious Prosecution claims; the bar to reach the threshold for Malicious Prosecution claims is exceedingly high … the fact that someone sued you, and you won, is nowhere near enough; you must prove that the lawsuit was entirely frivolous, brought only, solely for the purpose of harassing and burdening you; |
| -- almost NEVER -- | Police Brutality claims; a word to the wise, from someone who has assisted attorneys whose entire practice is based upon lawsuits against Police Departments and Municipalities, I have listened over and over again, as those attorneys had to explain to potential clients, “no, you really don’t have a case … your feelings may have been hurt, but the fact that Police Officers did not treat you well, is just not enough.” |
| -- almost NEVER -- | Discrimination claims; |
| -- almost NEVER -- | Usury claims against lenders and/or financial institutions; |
| Free Consultation Lawyer | CALL - 855-877-1212 |
