Legal Questions

Forum for parents of injured who are seeking information from other parents or people living with the injury. All welcome
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admin
Site Admin
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Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:59 pm

Legal Questions

Post by admin »

Has anybody won a bpi case, then had the Dr appeal against the verdict? If so who has to pay the attorney costs? Also has anybody pulled out of a lawsuit and how did you pay the attorney fees?
Carolyn
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2002 10:36 pm

Re: Legal Questions

Post by Carolyn »

Generally, if you lose you case, you don't pay your attorney fees but you have to pay costs (filing fees, copying, etc.) which can run several hundred or even thousands of dollars. As for dropping the suit and paying attorneys fees, that's purely a matter of contract with the attorney you pick. But its rare that you would drop the suit outright, as opposed to getting a modest settlement, in which case your attorney is paid from the settlement money.
Francine_Litz
Posts: 2199
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2003 9:03 pm

Re: Legal Questions

Post by Francine_Litz »

don't have any advice to give you but just wanted to wish you good luck with whatever you decide to do,
francine
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 19873
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:59 pm

Re: Legal Questions

Post by admin »

Questions about appeals come up very often. First, it is important to know that there has to be a legal basis for an appeal. The losing side cannot file an appeal simply because they do not like the result. the appeal has to claim that the judge made an error of law at the trial. An example would be allowing, or not allowing, certain evidence into the case. For this reason appeals are very hard to win. If you have won your case, you should not be overly concerned about an appeal. If you have lost your case, do not hold much hope that your appeal will be succesful unless your lawyer can explain a specific error that the judge has made.

In almost every state, interest runs on the judgment during the appeal. Your lawyer should not charge you any additional fee for the appeal.

If you do decide to pull out of a lawsuit, you may be responsible to pay for attorney's fees. It depends on the fee agreement you sign. No matter what the fee agreement says, your lawyer should not charge you any money if you decide you do not want to continue with the case. You will be responsible to repay the lawyer the out of pocket expenses.

If you have any particular questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Ken Levine
617-566-2700
KLevine@annlev.com
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