What do you do when lawyers break their word and you have it on paper?
My "attorneys" suckered me in to a class action suit by telling me that they will not take their normal 40% contingency fee on the first "registration payment" and will only take a small amount for "out-of-pocket" expenses.
On this basis I agreed to join the suit and signed.
Silly me!
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A Broken Contract
In 2006 I had a pacemaker implanted in my chest.
In 2007 I discovered that a wire from the pacemaker to my heart was faulty and could cause call kinds of damage from painful electric shocks, to a heart attack or even death.
In 2008 a Texas court dismiss a class action suit against the manufacturer
In 2009 I was contacted by a law firm in Sacramento who told me that a case was going forward in Minnesota so I joined the case.
Things dragged on until the end of 2010 when, suddenly, there was an urgent need to sign and notarize a set of papers which would allow me to collect an “interim” payment. I was skeptical and decided to drop out until a principal of the firm called me and assured me that they would only take a small fee for this “payment” and would not collect their normal 40% (that's right 40%)
So, in January 2011 I duly sent the notarized papers to meet the urgent court mandated deadline. As it turned out, the deadline was completely fake. I heard nothing until I inquired in April when I was told that the deadline was shifted to “late summer.” In October, when I inquired again, I was told, the “committee” was still working on the amount to be disbursed.
Then in December 2011 I received a letter which states, in part:
We are pleased to inform you that the Claims Review Committee (“CRC”) has completed its review of all of the claims submitted on or before May 2, 2011.
As explained in the settlement packet originally sent to you, those persons who are alive and still have their lead implanted are eligible for a small up-front registration payment. The CRC has determined that the registration payment is $1,000. If your lead has to be removed, capped or turned off within seven years from the date of settlement, you may be eligible for additional compensation. In that event, please contact my office so that we can submit a supplement claim.
We will only deduct our out-of-pocket costs from the $1,000 registration payment. We will not deduct attorney's fees.
Then, on January 9, 2012, I receive this insulting letter informing me that the $1000 is to be split in two with $400 held for some spurious reason and $600 to be disbursed immediately as follows:
Attorneys Costs!! $500
Check to Client $100
So, in attorney speak, 87.5% is less than 40%! Or am I wrong?
Naturally, I told them to keep the money, that the contract is broken and I am from this moment not bound by any confidentiality agreement regarding the less than professional behavior of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff, LLP, that's Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff, LLP
The letters will become artifacts in a new piece of art I am working on.
Peace
CJ