Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case - Part 3

Posted on October 28, 2008 by Gail Wurtzler

Continuing with my series of posts on “Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case,” this week I address the third criterion - FAIRNESS

The criterion of Fairness is slightly different for plaintiffs than for defendants, but it essentially relates to whether you are charged a fair price for the lawyer’s help. Three thoughts:

  1. For a plaintiff, if you are agreeing to a contingent fee arrangement, take a hard look at the terms of proposed agreement, especially the treatment of expenses (expert witness fees, travel, document management, etc.) and the percentage of any verdict or settlement that the lawyer will take.   Although expenses usually come off the top of any recovery, it can have a huge impact on the amount of your and your fellow plaintiffs’ recovery if the percentage for legal fees is calculated before or after expenses are deducted. A 30 percent contingent fee is typical, so ask for an explanation if the percent is higher.
     
  2.  For both plaintiff and defendant, ask for a budget for expenses. Expert witness fees, travel and document management costs can be substantial. For example, in an environmental toxic tort class action that is tried, expenses could easily top a million dollars. Up-front understandings on these expense categories help avoid unpleasant surprises. In addition, it may be appropriate for you to participate in some of the major decisions on expenses such as whether to retain an expert on a particular topic, whether to select a particular expert from several candidates, or whether to pay for a Cadillac-type document management system as opposed to a Chevrolet-type system.
     
  3. Talk to the lawyer’s clients from prior cases about whether they felt they received fair treatment.

The bottom line for choosing a lawyer is to do your due diligence on each of the candidates (and you will likely have several to choose from for one of these cases) and then select the one that best meets the three criteria I addressed in these posts (Expertise, Commitment, and Fairness) as well as any other criteria you identify.  

My next series of posts will addressthoughts about working with your lawyer going forward with one of these cases.

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Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case - Part 2

Posted on October 21, 2008 by Gail Wurtzler

Continuing with my series of posts on “Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case,” this week I address the second criterion - COMMITMENT. 

Commitment applies to both plaintiff and defendant. You want the lead lawyer and his/her team to commit fully to your case. Environmental toxic tort cases are difficult to win if your lead lawyer is pulled in multiple directions and not focused on preparing your case. Having too large or small of a team, or a team composed of an inappropriate mix of people, interferes with efficient and effective preparation and trial of one of these cases.   Similarly, repeated turnover of team members always costs you, the client, even if you are not billed for the time for a new person to get up to speed because you lose case-specific knowledge of the departing team member. Three thoughts:

  1. Ask the lead lawyer to commit to you to make your case his/her priority for as long as it takes. Environmental toxic tort cases are complicated and frequently have a lot of moving parts. You want your lead lawyer to be on top of all aspects of your case so s/he can make good judgments and adjust strategy as needed. 
     
  2. Discuss staffing with the lead lawyer and his/her firm. At the end of the initial discussion, you want an understanding that the case will be staffed leanly, i.e., with a smaller number of people who have substantial continuing roles, rather than with a larger number of people who may drop in and out on a project-by-project basis. You also want to see a team staffed with lower costs people where appropriate. Finally, you want a commitment from the firm to revisit staffing with you periodically or as the case develops to make sure that staffing continues to be appropriate. 
     
  3.  Talk to the lawyer’s clients in prior environmental toxic tort cases and ask about the level of commitment they experienced.
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Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Gail Wurtzler

Since I started blogging on environmental toxic torts earlier this year, I received several emails from readers asking me questions about choosing an attorney to represent them in an environmental toxic tort case. Unlike most of the issues I address, there are no cases on point. There probably are no black and white answers either. 

Nonetheless, I have handled environmental toxic tort cases (mostly for defendants) for a number of years and have observed and talked with attorneys and their clients. As a result, it seems to me that whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant in such a case, you need to consider at least three things when you choose an attorney: Expertise, Commitment and Fairness.

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