As others have said, it depends on the fee agreement. Some say the attorney gets a percentage of any recovery and any fee award. Some say all the money that gets awarded, fees or recovery, gets put into a pot and the attorney takes their percentage from the gross amount. Some say the attorney gets any fee award, or their percentage, whichever is greater. (The latter is actually a good idea for some civil rights litigation where there might be a modest award but a lot of fees)
Any fee must be “reasonable” despite what the retainer agreement specifies, so the attorney should be prepared to justify their fee. Most importantly, any ambiguity in the fee agreement would be resolved in the client’s favor.
I’m back … First, below is the actual wording of our fee agreement. Second, for those saying “you don’t get damages/payment of attorney fees if you don’t ask for them” - our petition to the court requests both.
Payment of FEES and EXPENSES. In return for the representation and services rendered and to be rendered pursuant to this agreement, the CLIENT agrees and promises to pay FEES to the ATTORNEYS on the following terms:
a. One Third (1/3rd) of each and every RECOVERY obtained up through trial of the LAWSUIT plus applicable G.E.T. taxes. CLIENT acknowledges that ATTORNEYS have not agreed to represent CLIENT on any appeal.
The contingency FEES attributable to a particular RECOVERY will be due and payable immediately upon receipt of the RECOVERY by the CLIENT, by the ATTORNEYS for the benefit of the CLIENT, or by a third person designated by the CLIENT to receive the RECOVERY. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by ATTORNEYS, payment of all FEES shall be in cash. In the event that a RECOVERY is of or includes an asset other than cash, the amount owed to the ATTORNEYS shall be the applicable percentage of the fair market value of the assets.
b. The ATTORNEYS will pay all EXPENSES as they are incurred and CLIENT shall have no obligation to reimburse the ATTORNEYS for EXPENSES unless a RECOVERY is made or the Court awards EXPENSES to CLIENT. In the event a RECOVERY is made or the Court awards EXPENSES to CLIENT, then ATTORNEYS shall then be entitled to recover all EXPENSES paid by ATTORNEYS. All EXPENSES entitled to be recovered by ATTORNEYS shall be paid from CLIENT’S share of any RECOVERY after the calculation of FEES.
c. Lien and Assignment to Secure Payment of FEES. To secure the payment of FEES, the CLIENT hereby grants to the ATTORNEYS a lien on each and every RECOVERY. The lien on a RECOVERY will be perfected automatically upon receipt of the RECOVERY by the CLIENT, the ATTORNEYS, by any person or entity designated by the CLIENT to receive the RECOVERY, or by any other person or entity who receives the RECOVERY for the benefit of the CLIENT. No additional notice or action will be required to perfect the lien. The CLIENT further hereby transfers, convey and assign to the ATTORNEYS such percentage of the assets of [EVIL] as is required to pay the FEES set forth in this paragraph 3.
As earlier mentioned, this is happening in Hawai’i, which, although there is a sovereign nation movement here, is generally understood to be part of the United States.
[not your attorney, not giving legal advice, haven’t see the whole contract]
Assuming recovery" isn’t defined differently somewhere in the fee agreement, Evil pays $120,000, as ordered by the judge. the attorney gets 1/3rd. Thus, the attorney gets $10,000 more as a result of the additional $30,000 award. The client get s $20,000 more than they would have.
The only other way it could be done is attorney gets $30,000 in fees and the client gets the full $90,000 award. I’d have to see the contract language to know if that’s a possible outcome. Generally the fee is based on gross recovery. The extra $30,000 recovered was probably the result of work done by attorney, and it seems fair (to me as an attorney) that they get a cut of that.
Your comments are helpful! I’m happy to share more of the contract if it would assist in further speculation - but post #22 gives all of the language related to fees (the rest of it is just definitions and laying out the specific circumstances of the case).
The definition of “recovery” is the only question in my mind. It probably says all money recovered, whether classified as fees, sanctions, damages, etc.
Here ya go - the definition of both “recovery” and “fees” in the contract:
“FEES” means fees for the representation and legal services rendered by the ATTORNEYS pursuant to this agreement.
h. “RECOVERY” means anything and everything of value (including but not limited to cash and cash equivalents such as money-market accounts and certificates of deposit, real property, tangible personal property, stock, stock options, intangible assets, accounts, rights, and forgiveness of debt) received by or paid to the CLIENT, or any other person or entity for the use or benefit of the CLIENT, as a result of legal services rendered by the ATTORNEYS for the CLIENT. RECOVERY includes any amount awarded or paid for FEES or EXPENSES. There may be more than one RECOVERY subject to this agreement; each and every RECOVERY will trigger an obligation to pay a contingency fee.
Thanks! And, of course, the attorney gets expenses on top of that, which is fine.
That’s certainly the case here. No offense to the law firm that took our case, but they aren’t doing it out of kindness or a desire to see justice served. They felt our case was pretty airtight and that it would be easy money for them. We predicted that Evil would fight tooth and nail out of sheer ill will - and they are - so we’ll see how it comes out in the end.
Just popping back to say that the case settled today. Justice - or at least a large portion thereof, if not the whole pie - is served. Everyone in my organization is very, very happy right now.