Risks, Reputations, and Rewards : Contingency Fee Legal Practice in the United States / Herbert M. Kritzer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kritzer, Herbert M., Author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (352 p.) : 29 tables, 8 figures

Place of Publication:

Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Risks, Reputations, and Rewards looks at a variety of interrelated questions about contingency fee legal practice: What is the nature of the contingency fees that lawyers charge? How do lawyers get and screen potential cases? How do contingency fee lawyers interact with their clients and opponents? What is involved in settling these cases? What types of returns do contingency fee cases produce? And what role does reputation play in contingency fee practice? The author argues that to be successful, contingency fee lawyers must generate a portfolio of cases, similar to an investment portfolio with its associated risk. This has a significant impact on how contingency fee lawyers obtain and select cases, manage their work, and deal with the pressures that arise in settling cases. More important, understanding the work of contingency fee lawyers in terms of an ongoing practice rather than in terms of individual cases mitigates some of the significant conflicts that may exist between lawyers and clients.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Tables

Figures

Preface

1. The Political Economy of the American Contingency Fee

2. A Profile of Wisconsin’s Contingency Fee Practitioners and Their Cases

3. Clients Seeking Lawyers, Lawyers Seeking Clients: Finding and Screening Potential Cases

4. The Work of the Contingency Fee Lawyer

5. Understanding Settlement Negotiations

6. Cashing Out the Investment

7. The Role of Reputation in Contingency Fee Practice

8. Conclusion: Praying for Justice or Preying on Justice?

Appendix A. Weighting for Case Processing

Appendix B. Survey Instrument

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 31. Jan 2022)

ISBN:

1-5036-2470-6

OCLC:

1294426235