Risks, Reputations, and Rewards

by Kritzer, Herbert M.

• ISBN13: 9780804749671
• ISBN10: 0804749671
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Stanford Law & Politics

Summary

Risks, Reputations, and Rewardslooks 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.

Author Biography

Herbert M. Kritzer is Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	vii
List of Figures	viii
Preface	ix
1. The Political Economy of the American Contingency Fee	1	(25)
2. A Profile of Wisconsin's Contingency Fee Practitioners and Their Cases	26	(19)
3. Clients Seeking Lawyers, Lawyers Seeking Clients: Finding and Screening Potential Cases	45	(51)
4. The Work of the Contingency Fee Lawyer	96	(43)
5. Understanding Settlement Negotiations	139	(41)
6. Cashing Out the Investment	180	(39)
7. The Role of Reputation in Contingency Fee Practice	219	(34)
8. Conclusion: Praying for Justice or Preying on Justice?	253	(18)
Appendix A. Weighting for Case Processing	271	(2)
Appendix B. Survey Instrument	273	(14)
Notes	287	(22)
Bibliography	309	(16)
Index	325