Your payment of the court cost invoice means you agree to these terms and conditions with The Kaplan Group.
The filing of a suit and the cost of litigation is not covered under our standard contingency-based services. We will not proceed to suit without the client’s written authorization (which includes email) and the client’s paying the initial invoice to proceed to litigation or arbitration.
The contingency rate is 35% unless a different rate is specified in writing. This includes the law firm we engage on your behalf and The Kaplan Group and is charged on all amounts collected.
The client (plaintiff) is responsible for all out-of-pocket expenses associated with a lawsuit and judgment collection, and a deposit for these costs must be made in advance. The amount of the deposit is based on local filing fees, hearing costs, anticipated process server costs, etc. Our client’s cost advance is used only for these types of out-of-pocket costs and not for compensating the attorneys. Judges typically add the amount of out-of-pocket court costs to the principal and interest that is included in a judgment but that does not guarantee it will be collected. Thus, if the judgment is collected in full the client will get their costs returned. Any unused cost advance deposit will be returned to the client when the matter is closed, whether or not money was ever collected. Once a judgment is obtained, the client may need to advance additional funds to cover court-ordered judgment collection activities such as bank levies, debtor exams, and asset searches.
The non-contingent fee quoted is charged to cover some of the cost of the initial effort to prepare and file the complaint and must be paid in advance. It is only refundable if the attorney does not move forward with the litigation/arbitration after receiving and reviewing the full file. In cases where there is a refund, some portion may be retained to cover the effort involved in reviewing the documentation.
All quotes are preliminary until the attorney decides to move forward with the matter and file the complaint. We reserve the right to modify the quote prior to the filing of the complaint. If the client chooses to not proceed with a revised quote, the advanced costs and unused non-contingency fee will be returned.
If a matter becomes highly contested, the attorney reserves the right to request hourly fees or an additional non-contingent fee.
If the debtor files a countersuit or cross complaint, the attorney will charge hourly for defense of that matter and will require a retainer. In many situations, the original complaint and the countersuit are so intermingled that the attorney will charge hourly for all work until a judgment is issued, plus the contingency fee if payment is received. Judgment collection would be on a contingency basis (i.e. not hourly). The attorney reserves the right to withdraw from a matter if the cross complaint indicates that it will be a complex and time intensive matter which does not fit their standard practice.
A judge or arbitrator may award pre-judgment interest and attorney fees in addition to the principal amount, but there is no guarantee these will be collected. They are not collected in most cases, as the debtor will negotiate to pay voluntarily in exchange for concessions. In some jurisdictions, the attorney will keep 100% of the attorney fees awarded after collecting 100% of the judgment amount including interest and court costs. In determining whether to proceed with litigation or arbitration, we recommend the client assume they will not recover interest or attorney fees.
If the debtor defends the lawsuit you may need to have a witness appear in court or in a deposition. Historically, this happens in only 1% of cases.
Updated October 14th, 2024
