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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hmaly who wrote (157425)	1/5/2003 4:54:07 PM
From: i-node	Respond to of 1580661

The problem isn't the fees, it is the total lack of justice in the system. Well, I don't disagree there is a basic problem with "justice". However, if you eliminate the 1/3 contingency fees lawyers receive, and replace it with some kind of alternative, reasonable fee structure, you will see the litigiousness dry up overnight. When the legal system finds it worthwhile to file ridiculous, frivolous suits, it is clear, unrefutable evidence that the fee structure is overcompensating them for the risks they [the attorneys] take. It is great that individuals with no money can bring suit; but when these individuals begin using such suits as a means to make a living, it is time to cap the contingency fee arrangement. If you just cut, across the board, the maximum contingent fee to 20% (instead of the customary 33% or higher), you would instantly see a decrease in the level of ridiculous lawsuits, because attorneys would think a little more carefully about the merits of a case before making the investment. Yet, those cases that are strong and viable would continue to get pushed. I, too, want to see justice. But we didn't have this problem before contingency fees were in widespread abuse as they are today. You can make a reasonable argument that contingency fees have also worked AGAINST any kind of true justice -- as many of the best (meaning most powerful) lawfirms today work solely on a contingent fee arrangement. THEY DON'T WANT A TIME AND MATERIALS BASED SUIT, EVEN AT $500/HOUR. Why? Because the contingency fee pays better, and they know it. It is theft. In my life I've dealt with a large number of lawyers. Seldom have I encountered I liked or thought was honest or would trust with anything important. I've seen lawyers ruin excellent business deals. I've testified in trials where the attorneys twisted ran roughshod over the intent of the law. And I watched the OJ Simpson trial, in which Johnnie Cochran lied through his teeth proclaiming OJ to be innocent. No D-Student or better could have falled for that crap, yet this fine legal team did. Sickening.