Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York

Re: Bodily injury litigation

One would look at the retainer agreement. In the usual case, a 33-1/3% contingent fee, one takes the amount of the recovery (whether by verdict or settlement), deducts the disbursements, and split the resulting net recovery two thirds to the client and one third to the lawyer. There are lots of variants. Look to the retainer agreement for the particulars. It is in any event unlawful for the lawyer to take one third of the gross recovery and then deduct the disbursements from the client's share. In fact, that bit of nonsense would usually result in disbarment proceedings.

Re: Bodily injury litigation

For contingency fee agreements, the legal fees are stated in the retainer agreement. In consideration of the services rendered, attorney fees are usually thirty-three and one-third (33 1/3) percent of the recovery by either settlement, judgment, or otherwise. For other retainers, it is usually by either hourly or transactional fees plus out of pocket expenses.

Please keep in mind that all legal fees are negotiable by you, the client. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.