Complicated Attorney's Fees...What is the max percentage I must pay?

[63Charlie]

Hired an attorney a while ago.

Discharged that attorney.

Attorney refuses to waive fees.

 

Hired another attorney recently.

The current said he worked out a fee agreement with the previous attorney but did not disclose their fees with me.

 

Considering I win, what % will I have to pay, if maximum?

[brokensoldier244th]

Its capped at a percentage. 

 

https://www.cuddiganlaw.com/library/how-can-i-afford-to-pay-for-my-va-disability-lawyer-fees-.cfm

[broncovet]

We dont know your fee agreements . You will have to read those yourself.  Here is the deal on attorney fees:

Those fees have to be approved by the VA, and they generally dont approve "excessive" fees.  

If your fee agreement was 20 percent, those are normally approved without questions.   However, attorneys can charge up to about 35%, but the attorney will have to justify this higher percentage.  For example, you claim stream may be exceptionally complex, the expenses may be high (such as a hospital which may charge for copying your records, sometimes a dollar a page or more) you may have multiple remands, etc.etc.  

I may have explained this earlier:  The best time to hire an attorney is immediatlly after a BVA denieal.  Why?  Because Vets regurarly get their attorney fees paid by eaja, but ONLY at the cavc.  That does not apply to RO or BVA decisions.  Lets use an example.  You get a board denial, hire an attorney quickly, and he files a NOA to the CAVC.  The most likely outcome is a remand.  So, the cavc remands it, your attorney notices your nexus is not up to par, and you get a nexus, submit it as new evidence to the board, and the board awards you benefits.  Now, the cavc will approve eaja fees..for the cavc part...but not for the board, and not for the varo.  So you may owe attorney fees for those also, so you may have to pay for that portion.  My attorney "does not" represent me EXCEPT at the CAVC.   This is our agreement.  So, what ever fees he gets from eaja, if any, is all I ever pay.  In other words, I pay zero attorney fees.  Other attorney may offer such an agreement, some may not.  It should be laid out in the fee agreement, and you "may" be able to negotiate those fees "before" you sign.  Dont try it after you have signed, unless there is something unusual.   

It sounds like you and your new and old attorneys worked it out.  

Usually it costs you money to change attorneys.  Why?  For one thing it takes attorney time to "get up to speed" on your claim, that is, reading your file, and research.    You get a new attorney and that starts all over again. so you pay double for that.  Remember that next time you hire or change attorneys.  Its like buying a car and changing your mind.  It costs you money.  

I dont recommend changing attorneys unless there is a compelling reason.  Now, you thinking "it takes too long" is probably not a good reason.  

Further, its probably not a good reason to fire your attorney if he handles your claim differently than "you think" it should be handled.  Why?  Well, if your attorney was a clone of yourself, then you should do it yourself.  You may not understand why he does what he does, but you dont have the benefit of a law degree and his years or experience, either.   You either trust the attorney or not.  If yes, hire him, and stay with him.  If no, then dont hire him.  

     If your attorney presents your case omitting some of your arguements, and pushing on others, I would not worry about that.  Very often when an vet wins, he wins with an "arguement" the attorney thought of, that the vet did not.  

     Lastly.  Your attorney is not a counselor or a teacher.  Dont expect him to write you a long email as to why he did not persue one of your theories of entitlement.  He isnt your law professor.  Also, if you are broke and hurting, dont call your attorney, every week and ask him the status.  Sure, tell him if you are about to be homeless, but dont bug him with endless emails about your financial or social woes.  Get a counselor at VA, and tell him those..he may even document some of those in your medical records and it may even help.  One example its a good idea to tell your doc if you are unemployed or homeless.  You can tell that to your lawyer too, but dont give him a call every time you get another bill in the mail.  

Edited February 26, 2019 by broncovet

[broncovet]

Your agreement with your lawyer should be "mutually beneficial".  He did not have to take your case, and most experienced attorneys have to turn some down.  The reason is that there are not enough attorneys to go around and, he has to pay the bills, too.  He has to take a chance that :

1.  Most of the stuff you tell him is true.  (this isnt always the case!) . 

2.  He has to invest his own money in your case..sometimes for years..and he may not get paid a dime.  You see, his legal assistants that answer the phone will want to get paid on fridays, even when your claims still have a long ways to go before they get to the judge.  He has to pay the phone bills, the postage, and other expenses hoping your claim will have a successful outcome.  Again, sometimes the outcome wont be successful if the veteran was not honest and made some stuff up to try to win benefits.  Most vets dont do that, but, there are some...that have.  

      For the reasons above, the attorneys "screen" their clients and only accept clients they think have a good chance of a favorable outcome.  They turn away other vet clients.  Sometimes they turn all of them away..because they are too busy.  This is especially true with law firms with a great reputation for winning vets benefits.  

      There is "no" reason to hire an attorney "unless" his services "makes" you money.  Dont forget its a two way street.  

His education cost big bucks.  You dont have a law degree.  You are not paying student loans for those years of college for your law degree.  Give him some credit, and dont always accuse him of ripping you off.  There are areas of law "far more lucrative" than Veterans law.  He is doing you a favor accepting you as a claimant, so thank him, dont attack him because "you think" he makes too much money sitting around waiting for those 20 percent checks to come in.  

        VA law takes so long, many attorneys simply dont want to wait 5 years for their money and many can not afford to.  They are doing you a favor representing you and taking a chance he wont get paid.  Treat him right.  

[vetquest]

Just a thought.  Unless you have a compelling reason to change attorneys do not do it.  If you fire an attorney you may have a problem getting another.  It is an exclusive club and the new attorney looks askance at a vet who fired his old attorney.  I had to fire my attorney after he won my case and got paid because he requested my case not be sent back to the BVA after the RO completed my remand.  I am now representing myself.

[63Charlie]

I will always believe a veteran should be proactive in prosecuting claims for benefits.

Don't make the mistake of sitting back and thinking an attorney will do all of the heavy lifting.

I have discharged three attorneys.

The first two attorneys waived their fee agreements.

The third attorney, who once represented Broncovet,(he and I have spoken about her), would NOT waive her fee agreement.

When I tried to hire other attorneys, I found it impossible.

Unbeknown to me, this former attorney was falsely informing the potential attorneys that I had fee agreements with three attorneys.

This prevented me from being able to hire another attorney.

I guess she wanted all of the fees for herself to pay for her Mercedes.

 

I had to send my current attorney a copy of the fee agreement waivers to disprove the former attorney's allegations.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by 63Charlie

[broncovet]

I did not have problems with her.  She won my claim (on remand), and got paid out of EAJA fees, mostly.  I did have a bit more fees due on the "BVA part" which is not covered by eaja fees.  However, she promptly refunded the attorney fees that the VARO witheld, because those had already been paid by EAJA.  The only reason I did not hire her again, for my new eed appeal, is because she declined to represent me on that issue.  

Firing 3 different attorneys "might" mean, perhaps, you had unrealistic expectations from them. 

Its not especially suprising that attorney's dont want to speak to someone who fired their last 3 attorneys.  Perhaps you have a bit too unrealistic of an idea of how much they make, with your comment about her mercedes.  Its not been my experience that Vets law attorneys are rolling in the dough.  It could take 5 years for them to get paid and I know I would not want to work a job where I got paid (maybe!!, if you win) 5 years later.   I just dont see a "rush" of attorneys wanting to practice VA law where they can wait 5 or more years to get paid.  If you treat the attorney like they are driving Mercedes on your money, its not real suprising that you have had a poor relationship with them.  

Make no mistake, tho.  The reason I can see this is because I have made similar mistakes in the past.  Hopefully I was able to learn from my mistakes and move forward.  That is what you need to do.  

One lady said she married 5 "bad" husbands.   She suggested she was a "bad man" magnet.   (I think it was one of the people who wrote to Ann Landers).  Ann Landers wrote that the "common denominator in her 5 past husbands was her".  She suggested maybe all 5 of them were not bad husbands..that at least part of the blame landed on her shoulders.   And, if she wanted to "go for number 6" she should figure out what portion of the divorces was her responsibility.   Ann said there might be an attitude problem that "GOOD QUALITY"  men didnt like about her, so she could not attract men of the quality she desired.