The average settlement or award was $48,800 for readers who hired lawyers, compared to $19,200 for those who pursued their wrongful termination cases on their own. Even after subtracting the average contingency fee (29%), the represented readers walked away with nearly $15,500 more, on average, than their unrepresented counterparts.
This arrangement is much less common, since most fired employees can't afford it. Only 10% of our readers with lawyers paid on an hourly basis. Over a third (35%) of them paid between $100 and $200 per hour, while nearly a third (30%) paid over $300 an hour. Combination fees.
More often, wrongful termination lawsuits are billed on a partial contingency basis, where you would agree to pay for certain costs or fees no matter what the outcome of the case. Wrongful termination applies in only a limited number of situations and many cases settle out of court.
Many employees believe that wrongful termination is the same as being fired unfairly. That's not necessarily true.
In general, readers who had a wrongful termination claim against a large employer (with more than 100 employees) received an average of $43,400 in compensation—almost twice as high as the average for readers who'd worked for smaller employers. Large employers may simply have the money to offer higher settlements.
In order to have a legitimate claim for wrongful termination, you must have been fired for an illegal reason, including discrimination or harassment based on a protected characteristic (like ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, disability, or age over 40).
Employment attorneys will evaluate your case before they decide to represent you. After looking at the evidence and estimating how much compensation you're likely to get (based on the amount of your monetary losses), they'll probably advise you against moving ahead if they don't think there's a good chance of winning.
Of course, attorneys don't come free. Wrongful termination lawyers charge for their services in one of three different ways: Contingency fees. Under this arrangement, the attorney receives a percentage of settlement or award. If you don't get any compensation, neither does your lawyer.
Large employers may simply have the money to offer higher settlements. But these results may also be related to the legal limits on how much employees can receive for wrongful termination claims based on illegal discrimination or harassment. Those limits are higher for larger employers.
Hourly fees. Employment lawyers may charge by the hour, at rates that vary widely depending on the attorney's experience and location. This arrangement is much less common, since most fired employees can't afford it. Only 10% of our readers with lawyers paid on an hourly basis.
Few wrongful termination claims actually go to trial, but filing a lawsuit puts an employee in a stronger negotiating position by starting the formal discovery process (getting evidence through depositions and requests for documents).
But, in general, hourly fees range from a couple hundred to several hundred dollars or more.
An hourly fee arrangement may make the most sense if you're shopping for a single, isolated service. For example, if you just want to have a lawyer look over a severance agreement, you can expect to be charged an hourly rate for that limited and relatively brief consultation.
A contingent fee is essentially a percentage of your recovery. If you win, the lawyer gets a cut. But the lawyer receives no fees if you get no damage award or settlement. The most common contingent arrangements are percentages of either an award of damages after trial or of a pretrial settlement amount.
A recent trend in legal fee arrangements is called "unbundling" of services. In the past, clients often hired a lawyer "on retainer," to provide services as needed. This was more common with business clients, but sometimes even an individual would hire a lawyer to help with all aspects of a problem, such as a wrongful termination. For example, perhaps the client wanted assistance appealing a denied claim for unemployment insurance or dealing with other administrative agencies, as well as with investigating possible legal claims and filing a lawsuit.
The key to a successful attorney/client relationship is communication. And, that communication starts with the fee discussion. Make sure you understand all terms of your attorney retainer agreement before you sign. If you don't, ask your lawyer to explain the terms.
If any money is left in the retainer at the end of the lawyer's representation, you will get a refund of the unpaid balance. Or, the lawyer may want a "cost retainer" to cover non-fee expenses, such as filing fees, costs of depositions, expert witness fees, and the like. Generally, the lawyer will withdraw from the fund as needed to pay costs ...
If you don't, ask your lawyer to explain the terms. If the lawyer can't clearly explain fees or wants to proceed with the representation without a clear, written fee agreement, it's a good sign that you should take your business elsewhere. Talk to a Lawyer.
No work case is a particular triumph for the claimant, to begin. In truth, most of the wrongful termination cases the subject is the motive.
There are an array of attorney fee structures that typically reliant on the kind of representation you required.
Another part to bear in mind is the non-attorney expenses. These other charges fluctuate substantially relying upon on what kind of move you choose to take. If you procure an attorney just to compose a letter asking for a pre-trial settlement, the expenses would be little or none.
Here are the fundamental elements of money related damages that you might claim if you win your wrongful termination case.
After that, wrongful termination suits can sometimes take up to 18 months to be resolved, says Riemann.
Wrongful termination cases can last up to two years because of the time required for a state board governing equal opportunity employment and employee rights to conduct an investigation and clear the way for you to file a lawsuit.
Attorneys who handle wrongful termination cases usually work on contingency, which means that if they take your case and the court awards you damages after a trial or you settle your case before it goes to trial, they receive a certain percentage of the total amount awarded.
This can take six months to a year. If your case is found to have merit, the commission will issue a right-to-sue notice; you have 90 days after the notice is issued to file suit. After that, wrongful termination suits can sometimes take up to 18 months to be resolved, says Riemann.
In some lawsuits a fee shift may come into play: This occurs when stipulations of the suit state that the losing party will pay the prevailing party’s legal fees. This may affect the final amount you receive, depending on how your lawyer has structured your contingency agreement.
Generally, the attorney's firm will cover any court fees or related expenses that may be incurred, then deduct them from the client’s portion of the award when they take their contingency fee.
Or you may have a contract — written or oral — that specifies certain procedures that must be followed before you can be terminated. If you are an at-will employee, however, and you have proof that your employer has terminated you illegally, you may have grounds for a wrongful termination case.