Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I read that a case was brought by a Milile Mpanbaniso in the Eastern Cape High Court to set aside a grossly exorbitant and unfair fee agreement in a Road Accident Fund matter. The attorneys somehow managed to get the client to agree to an 84% fee agreement in a matter that was settled for R787 000,00!
I am quite stunned when I read articles like that, as to how on earth the attorney ever tried to get his client to agree to such an agreement, or even to justify taking R690 000,00 for himself out of R787 000,00. It is even more astounding, having tried to get the client to agree to this, that at the first instance when the client challenged him, he did not settle the matter there and then but instead took the matter the whole way to Court somehow believing that he must have a chance of succeeding with an 84% agreed fee in a matter! The legal costs involved in running Road Accident Fund cases, as well as the vast expenditure that attorneys have to lay out, certainly means that the fees will never be cheap, but in a day and age when most people know that there are a number of attorneys who work on a percentage basis or at least agree not to charge more than a certain percentage, no matter how much time they spend on the matter, it is astounding that any attorney would try to push his client into such an unfair and ridiculous agreement and it is also surprising that any potential client would even sign such an agreement.
It is ultimately embarrassing for the legal profession when cases like this come out, but typically speaking the Law Societies do follow these up and strike the attorneys off for what attorneys call “over-reaching” – or fees that are excessive in their extreme.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 22-Jun-12
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Comments
Robyn said:
on Tuesday 26-Jun-12 08:07 AM
I'm not quite sure how the attorney thought he'd get away with this. I mean, why risk your whole business just so you can get a few bucks out of one client? Stupid.
joyce said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 06:04 PM
stealing,absolutely ridiculous
joyce said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 06:00 PM
stealing, absolutely ridiculous
Lucretia said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 05:55 PM
I did not read the entire article and, therefore, i do hope that the client has decided to go to the Law Society with this. There are attorneys out there who play on client's ignorance, what is even more shocking is how the bill was taxed if, in fact, that was done. It is attorneys like that that give the rest a bad name and cause people to call attorneys by all sorts of uncalled for names.
Catherine said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 04:00 PM
It is absoultely ridiculous! I believe this is an example of the Attorneys who take advantage of clients ignorance.
Thabitha said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 01:37 PM
Totally ridiculous and Law societies must really do something about those Attorneys.
cherise said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 01:12 PM
I think that is absolutely greedy of any kind of professional firm offering a service and in return deduct their fees from clients settlement amount , to do something so abusive to one of their own clients.
ecspecially dealing with clients who have been injured seriously that will need that money for their future medical costs or living.
disgusted.
Liesl said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 10:41 AM
Unfortunately it doesn't look good for attorneys when cases like these climb out of the woodwork. The general public already have the perception that attorneys are unscrupelous.
Henrietta said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 10:35 AM
That's bad, but being "ripped" is part of life lately. And to think that these people sleep well? My conscious will work over time if it was me ripping someone else.
Yolandi said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 10:33 AM
Sorry about the horrible spelling mistake. Meant to say "Ridiculous".
Angelique said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 10:32 AM
That is so shady and shocking! Atleast the client stood his ground
Simone said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 10:07 AM
Wow, absolutely ridiculous.
And I certainly also agree with Brumilde.
Megan said:
on Monday 25-Jun-12 09:57 AM
It is a sad state of affairs. Every industry will have chance takers. Attorneys have a particularly bad name and people like that make the situation even worst.
Daniela said:
on Friday 22-Jun-12 04:10 PM
I think it is utterly disgusting. How can people like that live with their conscience and how far removed from reality must they be to think that they will get away with something like that.
It really makes all attorneys look bad and it really is not the case.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
