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benthrdontaht · Dec 12, 2009, 10:13 PM

Is there any reason an attorney can't pay the filing fee to start a lawsuit out of his own pocket for the plaintiff if the attorney is taking the case pro bono? They will split any judgement money.

s_cianci · Dec 13, 2009, 07:00 AM

It's customary for the plaintiff to pay the filing fees. Often the attorney will work this into the other fees for which the client is billed. You state that the attorney is taking your case "pro bono" and that you will split the judgment money (assuming that there is any.) This sounds like a rather unusual arrangement. Is this attorney a family member or a friend who's doing you a favor? In any case, it's reasonable that (s)he'd ask you for the filing fee upfront. And if that's your only out-of-pocket expense consider yourself lucky.

Fr_Chuck · Dec 13, 2009, 08:21 AM

The attorney could I assume pay the fee out of the law firms funds ( not personal money) but this would be a debt that the client would owe ( even if the case is lost)

Also? Pro bono means he is doing the legal work for free, not splitting the fee, such as legal aid attorneys.
The American Bar wants all attorneys to do at lest 50 hours of this each year.

If he is doing this for a split ( often 30 or 40 percent is common)

Something seems fishy, I would ask
1. is this agreement in writing
2. what is the actual money split

benthrdontaht · Dec 13, 2009, 11:36 AM

The Lawyer is a professor with a Seattle Law School Law Clinic who took the case "pro bono", through the clinic and is paying his filing fees and bonds as they arise. At mediation, the Lawyer wanted $98,000 for legal fees. (I refused.) The plaintiff works for cash and doesn't file income taxes, (deposition) so there is no proof he has money. (I an the defendant) I had a local attorney tell me that it's an ethics violation for an attorney to pay his filing fees, etc, yet a different attorney with much less experience said it didn't matter. (The Judge subsequently dismissed their case with prejudice.)

twinkiedooter · Dec 13, 2009, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by benthrdontaht

Is there any reason an attorney can't pay the filing fee to start a lawsuit out of his own pocket for the plaintiff if the attorney is taking the case pro bono? They will split any judgement money.

This sounds like it would be a personal injury case if "they will split any judgment money". Why would an attorney take a pro bono case and split any judgment money? Makes no sense to me.

What sort of a case is this anyway? Pro bono means no attorney fees.

benthrdontaht · Dec 13, 2009, 03:07 PM

Since you asked, It was a Real Estate transaction where I bought the property from the plaintiff. No, the case should never have been brought, has run for 3 years and cost lots and lots of legal fees on my side. The Lawyer claims it is a "Social Justice" issue. The lawyer and plaintiff are both black and the lawyer focuses on "race" according to his bio at the Law school. No, it really wasn't race related, at least on my side. The plaintiff lied about the transaction (which became evident when his deposition was taken) and the lawyer perpetuated the lie even beyond that. After all the facts came out, the record clearly shows and the judge easily saw the scam they are running and verbally chastised them. (The plaintiff gets the house back plus $648,000 and the lawyer gets $98,000 even though he claims it is "pro bono".) Therefore, the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Plaintiff claims to have no money and could not come up with $500 for a bond required at one point. The attorney supplied the money

Now, my real question is, how far would this have gone if the filing fees hadn't been paid by the attorney?
Was this ethical, would the BAR be interested?

twinkiedooter · Dec 13, 2009, 05:35 PM

Irrelevant who paid for the filing fee.

I'm more interested in why you would have to give the house back AND $648K. If the case was dismissed why would the plainitiff's attorney get any fees?

Didn't you have an attorney to defend you in this case?

benthrdontaht · Dec 13, 2009, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Irrelevant who paid for the filing fee.

I'm more interested in why you would have to give the house back AND $648K. If the case was dismissed why would the plainitiff's attorney get any fees?

Didn't you have an attorney to defend you in this case?

Of course I had an attorney. Why do you think my legal fees were so high? (or have you not followed the thread?)

Relevancy, hmmm, well, how about if the BAR says it's improper? For WHATEVER reason. That is the original question. Please refer to original question and consider that a local attorney already told me that it was ethically wrong for an attorny to pay the fees, (at least in Seattle) but another attorney with less experience said it was "ok". So I'm a bit unclear on that issue.

As to why the they would expect to get the house back, (value $245,000) plus $648,000 "damages" and $98,000 in attorney fees... Their expectation was that I would agree to mediation (all of this is in writing of course and verifiable) and that I would want very much not to go to trial, even if I have done nothing wrong. It is the same "Jackpot Justice" that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton do all the time, read the newspapers. People mediate to avoid bad publicity, the time wasted away from business, further expense, etc. They thought I would give in rather than go to trial. They were wrong. Why are you so surprised?

This Law Clinic Professor had no fewer than 14 (fourteen) law students filing paper after per after paper. Their signatures and Intern BAR numbers are on the filings. The law professor saw it as an opportunity for his interns to "get real life experience" (he even states that is his purpose for the clinic.)

So, the case was dismissed (after 3 years of protracted litigation and stalls and appeals from the other side and MUCH legal expense and damage on my side). The Judge was not happy at the hearing with the law professor. I didn't pay any legal fees to the plaintiff, nor damages nor did I return the property. They lost, but at what a cost, because of their scam. Except that those law students got all of that "experience" now didn't they? It is my argument that the plaintiff had nothing to lose and no skin in the game, so why not proceed, says he. He was promised a big payoff.

What you haven't asked, and the most relevant question, is "why do you need to know if the attorney can pay the filing fee?" Well. I'll answer. If anyone that is INFORMED (not guessing, not opinion) KNOWS the answer, it affects my next legal action.

LisaB4657 · Dec 13, 2009, 08:05 PM

The answer is...

Maybe.

It is very possible that the plaintiff's attorney has acted unethically. However the only way to know that for sure is to either read the Washington State ethics requirements for attorneys or contact the Washington State Bar Association and ask them.

Have you checked out http://www.wsba.org/public/complaints/default.htm yet?

ScottGem · Dec 13, 2009, 08:19 PM

I'm wondering why you didn't ask the judge to award yoyu legal fees. If the judgedismissed the case and form what you said, the judge saw this as a scam. You should have asked to judge to award you legal fees.

I guess your next action is to fle suit againt the attorney. But I don't believe you can sue for an ethics violation. You can report him to the bar association. But I don't believe its grounds for a suit. On the other hand you may have a case for frivilous lawsuit.