Mesothelioma Drug Trials

4 Responses to “what is the typical reward disbursement between family members for Mesothelioma settlements?”

1. Max Hoopla Says:
   August 20th, 2009 at 4:48 am

   Attorney 90%, Victim 10%

2. Eric P Says:
   August 21st, 2009 at 3:25 am

   all class action suits are for the benefit of the lawyers not the victims

3. sophieb Says:
   August 21st, 2009 at 5:17 pm

   did you get a lump sum from the attorney? In personal injury cases the attorney usually splits it into thirds. One third pays the bills, one third pays the attorney and one third goes to the people. If the bills were high then naturally the amount that goes to the family/person are very little.

   Now if you’re asking that since there was a reward (what was left) came to you and yo want to know how to split it up between the members of your family then I’d think it should be divided equally if the person died, or maybe it’s whatever was in the will, or according to how it’s distributed if there was no will. There may be something legally tricky here regarding the distribution and perhaps you’d be better off asking your attorney.

4. SCOTT M Says:
   August 22nd, 2009 at 6:08 pm

   There is no “typical” settlrmrnt amount. It’s whatever your attorney can negotiate for you. How you divy it up among members of your family is up to you.

   If you hire an attorney and he agrees to work on a contingent fee basis (which he will), watch out for his costs. If he gets an award for you, he will probably take 40 percent plus his costs. Those costs can be almost anything. In working on your case, he can fly cross-country in first class, stay in a luxury hotel, and eat in a fine restaurant. He may be representing more than one client and charge each of them for those same costs. That’s unethical, but it happens, and you have no way of knowing if he has multiple clients.

   Put a cap on his costs, say five or, at most, 10 percent of any award he may get you. I read about a woman who sued a company for damages and won a settlement of about $125,000. After her attorney’s fees and costs, she got only $13,000.

   If you hire one of those attorneys who advertises on TV, watch out! They probably have many clients and may be gouging each one of them. They may also have an “understanding” with the defendant regarding the amount of awards they will be getting. So they get paid for doing next to nothing. Watch for the small print. Sometimes it says your case may or will be referred to another law firm (your attorney may not be licensed to practice in the defendant’s state). In that case, your attorney will probably have his secretary follow the progress of your case and update him periodically. The attorney handling the case will get the bulk of any award and yours will only get a referral fee. But if he gets enough referral fees, he can make out like a bandit for doing next to nothing.

   There are many competent and ethical attorneys out there, but there are also a lot of attorneys who don’t know what ethics are (many of them are “serving” their constituents in Washington. That’s why attorneys and politicians always rank at the top of the list of least respected professions.

   Good luck.

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