Workmen's Compensation and Lawyers Fees

[Dannypaulb65!]

Was injured in August of 2017. Obtained a workmen's compensation lawyer. Won the case on january 4, 2019. Received back compensation and 4 weeks of compensation to continue. When I got the weekly checks, I noticed I did not get the full amount. I called my lawyer and he said I signed an agreement (new to me) that said he would get 20% of the back workmen's comp and that he will be receiving 20% of my weekly payments. I feel that I was not informed verbally in regards to this. He kept saying 20% and I assumed he meant for the back compensation. I just feel that this is unethical and I did not have informed consent. This lawyer will get over $5000 of my money every year I am on workment's comp. Is there anything I can do about this? Thanks for your time.

[tony]

Dannypaulb65!

I noticed I did not get the full amount. I called my lawyer and he said I signed an agreement (new to me)

So you think you hired a lawyer without signing a retainer agreement (contract) come on.

he would get 20% of the back workmen's comp and that he will be receiving 20% of my weekly payments. I feel that I was not informed verbally in regards to this. He kept saying 20% and I assumed he meant for the back compensation.

He get's 20% of any benefit obtained on your behalf in litigation.

I just feel that this is unethical and I did not have informed consent.

I feel someone trying to screw their lawyer out of his rightful fee for obtaining benefits they never would've gotten without his help is hardly a credible judge of ethics.
You're obviously trying to screw the lawyer after he helped you - You dam well knew when you signed that retainer what his fees where and now you're playing word games trying to get around them.

Next time, handle your claim without a lawyer, see how that works for ya.

Tony

[laborer]

Tony,

This sounds like a posting from an employer organization. It's intention being to tell injured workers, "don't get a lawyer, you'll do fine on your own." It's written to well to be just some poorly educated soul. Everyone going to a lawyer knows the fees when you sign the retainer. To any injured worker reading this forum, don't fall for this fake post. Without a competent workers comp. lawyer you are going to lose in a contested claim. I know, I've been through a contested claim. Without my attorney I would have lost, and losing will get you 100% of nothing.

[complwyr]

I agree with laborer above. I have seen many, many hardworking people screw up their otherwise perfectly winnable workers' comp cases after they were too stubborn to get a competent lawyer to help them. Once you screw it up, folks, it is usually too late for a lawyer to help you. And I rarely ever see a client who thinks he should get a lawyer to work for him, and win his case for him and get him thousands of dollars that he would not have gotten without the lawyer's help and skills, for free. So I think this original post might be fake, too.

The insurance industry did a survey of its members in California about 10 years ago and discovered that injured workers who were represented by competent lawyers got a lot more in benefits than people who were not represented. I am not sure it is still available on the Web but in 2014, I summarized it in a blog post, here:

https://www.bollingerlawfirmnc.com/b...p-claims.shtml

[tony]

laborer

This sounds like a posting from an employer organization. It's intention being to tell injured workers, "don't get a lawyer, you'll do fine on your own." I

Naw, it's just someone looking to avoid attorney fees, happens all the time.
I checked out the poster - it's not an org - it's an individual who lives in P.A - it's real.

I don't know why you guys are surprised, we get a lot of these types of postings.
People want a lawyer until they win a denial or settle then they bitch about the fees and try to wiggle out of them with double talk.
People claiming they didn't read the retainer is very common, the oldest scam in the book.

Tony

[Timothy Belt]

20% is standard fee and set forth in the Workers' Compensation law as reasonable. It is a lot less than you would pay for a personal injury lawyer. Furthermore, he won your case, so the only reason you are receiving anything is his hard work. Finally, as a workers' compensation lawyer I can tell you it takes me about 3 years of receiving the 20% fee on a file to pay for the time I put into litigating any petition. It takes 3 years if nothing else happens during the 3 years to run up additional hours which almost never happens. Your lawyer did a good job for you and deserves to be paid for the work he did.

[representedkox]

Indeed, some lawyers go to the trick and allow clients to sign documents without verbally explaining the essence of the agreements.