Referral fees in the PI world are funny to me. Friend #1 just started working for M&M in a business development role. I think his job is to get law firms/lawyers to agree to refer work to M&M, and friend #1 gets a bonus for each firm/client who signs up. I call friend #1 this morning to give him a referral, as friend #2 is getting fucked by Progressive and needs a Louisiana plaintiff's lawyer. I try to decline the 25% referral fee from M&M and the whole system breaks down -- friend #1 doesn't get a bonus from M&M, and friend #2 doesn't get a lawyer because friend #1 has no incentive to find a Louisiana attorney since there's no bonus. But if I sign some electronic form agreeing to take 25% of M&M's recovery, friend #1 gets a bonus and friend #2 has someone incentivized to find the right attorney for him.
Because I only wanted friend #1 to get a bonus, friend #2 to get a lawyer, and to text them each other's contact info and be done with it. I'm happy to take the 25%, it just wasn't a motivating factor whatsoever
You can give the $ back to friend #2 if you choose, but the firm receiving the referral doesn’t want to have an attorney referral without a contract because you could later claim a portion of the fee (which happens all the time). Case running is still a huge problem, so it’s always good to have written contracts to avoid fighting a bullshit attorney lien.
I'm taking the 25%. I just thought it was funny how, in the absence of me agreeing to take the 25%, the system breaks down and neither friend gets what they want.
Somewhat related — a major carrier for whom someone itt may or may not have represented in the past fucked up and sent an offer to the attorney my client fired several months ago instead of to me, and that attorney claimed a $100k lien based on their contingency fee. Should be a blast to deal with.
Having to sign a contract is the reason I initially declined the fee. I don't want to read a referral contract to make sure it doesn't bind my firm to anything
Fees amongst attorneys, clients arguing about their bills, associates and clerks needing "mentoring." Today's quickly turning into a day of admin work
It even makes the admin stuff worth it. I'm admittedly like halfway between self-sufficient and working on a contract basis, but it's incredible.
Have a terrible case in which our driver struck a pedestrian while watching a youtube video. Probably 8-figures of exposure. This is the screenshot of the youtube video he was watching, with his comment:
It’s badass until you want to take a vacation. And cutting checks to the US treasury every quarter instead of never seeing the money took a long time to get adjusted to
You've just got to loosen up a little GK. I'm heading to the mountains next week. My second vacation this month. Second point sucks balls. Almost makes me want to be a libertarian.
Quarterly estimated taxes suck, but I just budget it. Otherwise, we keep a pretty significant capital account for cash flow purposes and only pay out 70% of estimated revenue on a monthly basis regardless of actual revenue. Basically, we don’t borrow against our line of credit due to our capital account and I get paid 1/12 each month of an estimate of 70% what I expect to share for the year. When we meet or exceed profits at the end of the year, I get the other 30%.
Just got back from our state trial lawyer annual convention in New Orleans. Was up way too lateThursday night and had to moderate the CLE starting at 9AM the next morning as I was the CLE chair this year. At 12:30PM I skipped out on the $100 dry chicken hotel ballroom membership luncheon that I pre paid for and instead went to my room, laid down, and ordered a club sandwich and fries up to the room. Unbeknownst to me , during said luncheon I got awarded an award that's for being a stalwart and solid member of the organization but wasn't there to receive it, the ultimate irony
signed up an 18 wheeler case last thursday. the client signed up with a criminal defense family friend dude in april and she hasn't seen a doctor even though she's pretty banged up. she sent a letter firing them and they said they're going to retain their full interest. they sent an letter of rep and that's it. good luck with that!
I just mediated a case that settled for 7 figures but had this issue underlying it. I really hate our profession sometimes.
should be fun for the other lawyer to get in front of a judge and explain why he's entitled to much of anything.
A month into a new job and im still just putting out fires left behind by the old lawyer He apparently wasnt a big believer in the idea of clients getting money from their settlements Or in responding to discovery in a timely fashion. I just recently responded to some that was almost two years overdue
The dozens of furious clients who call me daily also seem to think its a problem. I inherited cases settled in 2022 that still havent been fully disbursed with basically no notes on what liens are outstanding. I also am down to zero staff members to help me sort through and close these files
Yeah, I’d be really fucking careful with that. Is all the money accounted for in the trust account? That sounds like it should be your employer’s problem.
Yeah, that sounds like a potential situation from Tuscaloosa years ago. I'd want to see a report from an accountant before I dispersed anything.
Got my 20 page memo in opposition to summary judgement filed today with exhibits A through T. Fun times. Tomorrow I have to get my Certificate of Compliance for an appeal filed with estimate of transcript costs. Every more fun times!
Everything appears to be accounted for properly. He is/was just lazy and unprofessional in finishing out and disbursing cases.
Got our 200th google review today. Holding steady at a 4.9. Sometimes got to fight like hell to keep it there. Folks be crazy.
He hit send on the email at 7:59 (rec’d at 8:03). The quality of work was so-so and was not complete, but I could tell he put in a decent amount of work between Friday at 10am and Monday at 8am. I don’t think he worked all weekend, but enough to make it seem like he gave af. I’m going to cut the clerk some slack and consider it as if he redeemed himself
Love when someone sends me an email and then immediately (within 60 seconds) sends me a Teams Message asking if I have seen and reviewed their email. Even better when the email is a response to something I provided almost 2 months ago and now everything has changed so everything has to be re-done and they need it today. lol good luck with that.
Signed up two new clients today who called and wanted to switch lawyers because they didn’t feel comfortable with the people they signed up with last week it was my old law firm :) Happens 5-7 times a year and always brings a smile to face
Let me guess, they sign people up then do none of the initial work such as send letter of rep/work on property damage/line up medical treatment. Additionally when the clients call they can't get in touch with anyone. Sound about right?
On this one it sounded like his contract was included with the initial paperwork at a chiropractors clinic and they didn’t know what they were signing he got popped for that in the past. Had to pay a barratry settlement but I don’t believe he faced any discipline from the bar. At least it’s not public if he did
Wait, the lawyer's contract was handed out by the chiro clinic? Also I'm going to have to google barratry settlement, that's a new term for me.