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A comment on How my life was changed when I began caring about the people I did not hire. Parent comment

Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by pandaman on Friday January 09, 2015 @01:33AM (#8861033)
This is true if contingency lawyers only charge their regular rate. Do they really? I thought they work for a stake in the award they are going to win. Otherwise, why would anybody take a case on contingency? There is no 100% guarantee of winning a civil case so it's effectively reducing your own rate since you are going to lose* some cases eventually (* you might even win every case but some of them did not get awarded enough money to pay the lawyer's fees).
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Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by WalterBright on Friday January 09, 2015 @01:56AM (#8861078)
Contingency means they charge a percentage of the winnings. If they lose, they get $0. Hence, lawyers don't take on contingency cases unless it's a strong case.
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Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by pandaman on Friday January 09, 2015 @02:32AM (#8861164)
And if they win they might get a giant pile of money. Hence, rational lawyers take on contingency cases based on the strength of the case relative to the potential payout. A weak case with high payout could be a better option than a sure-win case with low payout. This very website is created by people who practice this strategy in investment and they seem to be doing just fine.
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