How does a contingent fee agreement work?

A contingency fee agreement is a payment arrangement that allows a plaintiff who has been injured and is seeking legal remedy to obtain legal representation even if they do not have money to pay a lawyer at the beginning of the case. A client does not have to pay a contingency fee up front, agreeing instead to pay an attorney a percentage of the client’s award should they win the case. The contingency fee agreement will dictate the circumstances of payment, and how much an attorney is owed. The rules governing lawyers in your state will frequently determine when contingency fees are appropriate.

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What is contempt of court?

Contempt of court is a display of disrespect or disregard for the authority of a court. Contempt of court can be either civil or criminal in nature, much like the court system itself. Civil contempt is a coercive or punitive mechanism designed to prod the party held in contempt to remedy the wrong they’ve committed.

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When does it make sense to hire an attorney to represent you in an administrative hearing?

navigating the government’s administrative agencies can be nearly impossible at times. While some administrative agencies such as the Veteran’s Affair’s Office have straightforward forms and timely responses, others, like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), require inside connections in order to effectively pass anything through. For those more difficult agencies, an attorney should at least be consulted if not retained. An attorney will draft your appeal in a light that is most favorable to your side and present prior precedent to make compelling arguments. The administrative agency appeals hearings are typically before three to five agents of that agency. These agents will pose questions about the appeal filing.

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Can I appeal the decision in a civil matter?

The question of whether a case outcome can be appealed depends primarily on the type of case and the court where the case was heard. Criminal cases have a Constitutional appeal by right, whereas some civil and administrative cases can not be appealed. When determining whether your case can be appealed, the first person you should consult is your trial attorney.

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