Faqs

Q. Do you charge for consultations?

A. No. After an initial phone conversation or email exchange, we will meet with you for a free initial consultation to discuss your legal issues and potential solutions at your convenience. We do not charge for these consultations. If, after this consultation, you decide to retain us, we can discuss fee arrangements, depending on your needs.

Q. How much do you charge, and what will this all cost?

A. We work on contingency, which means you do not have to pay us any money down or by the hour once we accept your case. It also means we are only paid a percentage of what we recover for you, either after trial or in a settlement. Our fee percentage is set out in a written contract that explains how the fee will be calculated. The fee ranges are negotiable and depend on the type of case you have, but are generally about one-third of your recovery. In some cases, particularly employment cases, the law may provide that the employer must pay your attorney fees, which means you would retain most or all of your own award. Also, in many class action cases, you are entitled to additional attorney fees as part of your recovery. In those cases, any additional fees must be approved by a court.

We also generally advance costs on your behalf, including filing fees, obtaining documents, hiring investigators and experts, court reporters, jury fees and other expenses that are part of a lawsuit. These costs also vary depending on the type, length, and complexity of the case, and when and if your case settles or goes to trial. In addition to our contingent fee or any attorney fee awarded by the court, we are reimbursed for many of these expenses on completion of your case.

Q. If I do decide to retain you, will I ever talk to you again?

A. We take pride in building productive relationships with our clients. The only way we can do that is to talk with you, and to be available to you when you need us. You can always speak to an attorney if you have questions and will never have to rely on a paralegal or secretary to get updates about your case.

Q. How long will my lawsuit take?

A. Once we have had a chance to discuss your matter and do some investigation of the facts and legal issues, we can give a general estimate based on similar cases we have taken in the past. However, every case is different, based on issues like how cooperative the other side is, congestion in the courts, the amount of time we need to spend investigating the facts and legal issues in your case, and many other factors. But, we will always keep you informed of your case’s progress and do as much as we can to solve your problem as soon as we can.

Q. What is a class action?

A. A class action is a type of lawsuit where one person, called a named plaintiff, or class representative, files a case on behalf of a large group of people who have experienced a similar harm. The named plaintiff seeks damages for him or herself and all of the other people who have been harmed in the same way. It is especially useful when the claim at issue is over a relatively small amount of money per person, or when the people in the class otherwise could not afford to bring lawsuits individually.

There are many reasons to file class action cases. Class actions have compensated workers who were paid illegally, and consumers who were duped by false or misleading claims by deceptive companies. Because a class action operates on a large scale, they enable one person to stand in the shoes of everyone who has been harmed in the same way, and hold wrongdoers accountable for their actions.