Kim
08-10-2007, 02:08 PM
My daughter was rear-ended in Sept. 4 years ago by a large Newspaper Co. driver from USA Today. Her lawyer told her that his fee would be 40%.
She has not gone through her deposition nor her mediation which is Tuesday 8/14/07, but from her initial lawyer fee amt. she was told 33 1/3% if they settled out of court, and now he's saying he will get 40%.
She is concerned that she is being lied to and he might be taking advantage of her.
My daughter has a lot of neck and back injuries, goes to a neurologist on a regular basis, chiropractors, therapists and bone doctors etc... and also has short term memory loss. She stays away from conflict as much as possible and has not asked the questions necessary to get the answers that will satisify her.
When her accident occured, she was 18 years old and was 8th in the nation as an inline speed skater and had speed skated since she was 8 years old. She was closer that year to making the world team as she has ever been.
The lawyer acted like she had a very good case and that she stood an excellent chance of getting a good settlement (he mentioned millions)
Now he is saying she will be lucky to get $100K. Originally they were going after USA Today as well as the Ins., but now he's saying only the Ins. and their policy was only $100K.
Her lawyer said that on top of the lawyer fee of 40%, there would also be expenses she would have to pay.
None of this is adding up even close to what was originally told to her...
As her mom, I'm concerned about her becoming depressed once again, and feeling like she has not only been jipped out of a promising skating dream, flexibility and mobility, painfree living, but also a settlement that she was told was "In the bag" so to speak.
If you can shed any light on this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Kim
She has not gone through her deposition nor her mediation which is Tuesday 8/14/07, but from her initial lawyer fee amt. she was told 33 1/3% if they settled out of court, and now he's saying he will get 40%.
She is concerned that she is being lied to and he might be taking advantage of her.
My daughter has a lot of neck and back injuries, goes to a neurologist on a regular basis, chiropractors, therapists and bone doctors etc... and also has short term memory loss. She stays away from conflict as much as possible and has not asked the questions necessary to get the answers that will satisify her.
When her accident occured, she was 18 years old and was 8th in the nation as an inline speed skater and had speed skated since she was 8 years old. She was closer that year to making the world team as she has ever been.
The lawyer acted like she had a very good case and that she stood an excellent chance of getting a good settlement (he mentioned millions)
Now he is saying she will be lucky to get $100K. Originally they were going after USA Today as well as the Ins., but now he's saying only the Ins. and their policy was only $100K.
Her lawyer said that on top of the lawyer fee of 40%, there would also be expenses she would have to pay.
None of this is adding up even close to what was originally told to her...
As her mom, I'm concerned about her becoming depressed once again, and feeling like she has not only been jipped out of a promising skating dream, flexibility and mobility, painfree living, but also a settlement that she was told was "In the bag" so to speak.
If you can shed any light on this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Kim