Based on these ethical rules, not only can a lawyer working primarily in the field of personal injury law, as a co-advisor to another lawyer in another firm, participate in the costs of bodily injury, but also lawyers working in the field of family law, criminal law, real estate or another specialty can jointly represent a right to bodily injury and participate in the contingency costs. generated by the case. It is one of the most powerful. The percentage of fees to be paid to the co-counsel is not necessarily proportional to the extent of the work done in the proceedings. In other words, a lawyer can receive 30%, 40% or even 50% of the tax in a case without having his name on the briefs or performing any of the „trial work“. Normally, the only role of our co-counsel in this matter is to maintain the relationship with the client. However, we recognize the importance of this role and understand that the distribution of royalties among Co-Counsel should reflect the value of this service. 3. Commit to follow all critical deadlines for all co-counsel matters regardless of your level of participation and to follow up with your co-counsel, either to confirm that you will meet your specific deadline or to ensure that your co-counselor will meet theirs. This is especially important in areas where your participation is limited only to your local contact service, which ends up receiving some sort of referral fee. Also remember that as a co-advisor, you are co-responsible and responsible for the issue being addressed. There`s really no half-way with that. If Co-Counsel misses a deadline, you will have a problem.

For this reason, lawyers who decide to terminate a co-counsel relationship leave, including the loss of transfer fees. Here too comes responsibility with money. In situations where the client has already entered into a fee agreement with co-counsel and our firm is consulted to assist with this matter, the cost-sharing at the beginning of the case is determined based on the nature and complexity of the case and the difficulty of imposing itself in the negotiation and is recalled in a cost-sharing agreement. Have you worked with or as a co-advisor? What experience did you have? Customers react in different ways. The nature of their reaction really depends on the nature of the case and the nature of the client`s involvement in the case. If a client is a professional client familiar with the issues at issue, the client will likely understand the need to hire co-counsel. Perhaps there was a time when, out of professional courtesy, we could assume that our professional colleagues were competent; But those days are long gone. Keep in mind that 45% of abuse requests during the 2008-2011 period were the result of a material error of law.* The old saying „There is no free lunch“ seems like an appropriate metaphor. Assumptions about the competence of a lawyer with whom you are advised can have serious consequences on the faults committed. For example, if the client is a business client and has been sued in a professional capacity, the client may have mandated our firm as a trial firm to handle the dispute, and at the same time we may enter into an agreement with Co-Counsel to discuss certain financial aspects of the case, such as. B tax matters. etc.

In this scenario, the client may already have a tax lawyer and might be comfortable using a co-advisor. 4. Finally, make sure that your potential co-counsel is sufficiently insured and do not accept their oral commitments….