I want some legal eagles to help me here. I was involved in an auto accident in February (not at fault) and had an attorney firm representing me with personal injury claims. They got a tentative offer from the other driver's insurance company and it was still being negotiated.
They terminated the agreement and sent a letter to the other driver's insurance company telling they no longer represent me. If I negotiate a settlement with the other driver's insurance company, are my attorneys still supposed to get their 33% cut of the settlement amount? I personally feel they don't. Any opinion?and ask them that question. I suspect it has to do with many factors such as state laws, and also the specifics of your case.
By the way, any idea why your lawyer fired you as a client?
Hadji is arguably the most dishonest person ever to have posted on TER. and yes I realize just how many liars preceded him.
My bet would be that Hadji most likely grossly misrepresented the facts to his own attorneys and they dropped him like a fat chick at the prom after finding out how compromised the case was.
The other driver's insurance company was too happy to work with me directly and we settled everything to my advantage. The insurance company attorneys also told me I owe nothing to the Attorneys who quit my case. Good riddance, I saved a hefty 33%.
Since they fired you they should not have any rights to the proceeds. But then again you are dealing with lawyers and it's really easy for them to sue you
Like others have stated.....if they fire you odds are they don't get a dime. BUT check the small print. Because they might still be owed something. Because I know in other transactions (real estate) if a buyer and seller want to cut out a realtor and paying a commission.... after the realtor has either shown the home to the buyer or have listed the home. There is some language in the listing or buyer's rep agreement that provides safety for a certain time period.
So like I mentioned... if they negoatiated the deal you might owe something. But you may have already paid those fee's....ie: Retainers.
So you are not 100% in the clear. Always check the fine print before you try to hamstring anyone. Which this sounds like what happened here.
It will depend on your contract with your former law firm and your state law. Their written legal notice dismissing you as a client may offer clues. It would be foolish to speculate without reading those documemts very carefully.
Was their representation on a contingency basis? If so they get nothing unless they are successful on your behalf.