What is a contingency fee?

A contingent fee is only payable if there is a favourable result. Even this is not favoured, when an attorney represents and wins a settlement from the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund for the families of 9/11 victims.

Still a woman who lost her husband in 9/11 attack, was sued by her attorney for $2,000,000 when he won a favourable settlement for her from the September 11th Victims Comsensation Fund.

The woman wanted to contest the case and hence approached simmons jannace & stagg, who are known for their clever arguments and benevolent attitude towards such victims.

Simmons, Jannace & Stagg argued successfully and achieved a favorable decision for their client from the federal court.

They put forward some excellent points before the court, arguing that the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal jurisdiction for an action by an attorney seeking to protect his fee, which turned the case in their favor.

They also argued that there was no reported case that upheld jurisdiction under the Fund where the issue concerned a private dispute between an attorney and his former client concerning the amount of a legal fee.

They pleaded that the federal court should abstain because the state Surrogate’s Court had already begun an inquiry into the size of the attorney’s fee.

As far as Simmons, Jannace & Stagg is aware, this is the first federal court decision holding that attorneys’ fee disputes arising out of the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund should be litigated in the state courts.