Texas man freed by DNA sues over 'excessive' fees

[thestoic]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

A wrongly convicted man freed by DNA evidence is suing his civil lawyer and an Innocence Project of Texas official, saying they want too large a chunk of the nearly $1.3 million he received for spending 16 years in prison.
Patrick Waller, wrongly imprisoned from 1992-2008, is on an expanding list of Texas DNA exonerees upset over what they call excessive attorney fees. His lawsuit filed this week is the second in a month as a formerly feel-good story about freedom and delayed justice devolves into a battle over turf and money.
Waller recently received a seven-figure lump sum under a new state compensation law that attorney Kevin Glasheen lobbied for on behalf of his 13 wrongly convicted clients.
Waller said he paid Glasheen $650,000 in fees, and Glasheen in turn will pay a $130,000 referral fee to Jeff Blackburn, the chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas.
Glasheen dismissed Waller's lawsuit as "a weak claim" Wednesday. Blackburn declined to comment, saying he hadn't yet seen the lawsuit.
Waller agrees Glasheen should be paid for his lobbying work, but contends he hired a lawyer, not a lobbyist. He also said he was shocked to learn about Blackburn's fee, even though Blackburn's innocence group was involved in Waller's case.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_14057792

[derby378]

1. Uh oh...

This better not jeoparize the working relationship between the Innocence Project and Craig Watkins, the Dallas County DA who's been working so hard to free the wrongfully-convicted.

[guruoo]

2. The state should be tabbed for the legal fees. n/t

[rfranklin]

3. Absolutely...but are they protected by laws written for this kind of incident?

You usually don't have much luck against government malfeasance.

[ShockediSay]

28. And guess who writes the laws in Texas n/t

[UpInArms]

4. Blackburn is a rare decent attorney - a fine man

and works tirelessly for those who have been denied justice.

[ooglymoogly]

5. This is too sad....The lawyers deserve what they get for fighting for and

freeing innocent men and by god we need these folks. The culprit here is the state...they should assume all responsibility for all legal fees and then a judgment should be made on what 14 years of torture and 14 years of a mans life is worth...a lot more than a paltry 1.4 million.

[WriteDown]

9. As if the state is going to pay anything....

Try suing the government for anything.

[robo50]

13. Lawyers deserve expenses and maybe $40 an hour for their work, not

enough to send their kids to the best colleges.

Maybe the innocence project could re-bill him for actual work done, and ask for a $50,000 "contribution". That would be fair.

[Sanity Claws]

20. $40 an hour?

Do you know that this compensation also has to pay salary and benefits for staff, like secretaries and receptionists? It must also pay for rent, equipment, and other necessities for keeping a law firm open.
So $40 an hour may sound a lot to you but it wouldn't even keep the doors open on a modest office.

Further, there are many cases on which they work in which they get no compensation. They have to investigate cases that they turn down. That is why contingent fees are more than just an hourly fee -- they need to make up for the time spent on non-compensated work.

[we can do it]

22. What Grade Are You In?

[robo50]

30. Should I report your rude questions?

Don't you think 80,000 is a fine salary for most Americans? Lots of teachers, professors, nurse practitioners, bankers, etc. work for that or less.

$40 an hour is $80,000 a year, if you only work 2000 hours, the average work year.

[Hosnon]

6. Hmm...I bet he didn't complain much as the attorneys worked for free to release him.

A cost they would not recoup at all were he not released.

But the state should pay the fees.

[boppers]

7. 650,000? 130,000?

That's how much per hour?

Looks like there's quite the con going on here, with innocent people being scammed by lawyers.

[WriteDown]

8. General rate is 400$ an hour...

So that's 1950 hours over how many years. Not totally unbelievable. Seems like a small percentage of the amount awarded. I thought it would be larger.

[Bette Noir]

11. Half is a small percentage?

For a lawyer to demand half of an award on a contingency case is illegal in California.

[WriteDown]

12. How is it half?

"Waller recently received a seven-figure lump sum under a new state compensation law that attorney Kevin Glasheen lobbied for on behalf of his 13 wrongly convicted clients."

Could be I guess, but it just seems average for lawyer's fees over a # of years.

[Thor_MN]

33. 650K, 1.3M... hmmm...

How is that not half?

[robo50]

15. The lawyers could be well compensated at 1/10th of $400 an hour.

That's not corporate lawyer wages, but decent wages, just the same.

There are thousands of lawyers who work for $40 an hour defending the innocent.

[WriteDown]

18. They could...

but I do not set compensation. Same as many doctor specialties.

[boppers]

16. For 400 an hour, they better include a moist towel...

"I'll free you from prison, for only $400 an hour...."

That's stomach-churning on a level of moral reprehensibility that I can barely comprehend.

[WriteDown]

17. That's a lawyer's fee in general....

Not saying it's right, but 400$ an hour is by no way uncommon.

[robo50]

31. I agree, Lawyers are WAY over-paid. n/t

[PSPS]

10. That's the rub

From the article, we have no way of knowing how many hours were spent by the attorneys and others working to free this man. The fee may be justified and the state should pay it. They have liability insurance for just this sort of thing.

I used to think these large attorney fees were always excessive until I studied what was behind them. Usually, legal firms spend a huge amount of their own money in advance while working on cases like these.

[Downwinder]

14. The State of Texas classifies any awards against it as

unfunded obligations. There has to be a bill passed through the Legislature to get an award. It is rare to find an attorney who will take a suit against the State.

[depakid]

19. That'll be great PR for the firm

[robo50]

21. Then again, if I walk out of jail with $250,000 in the bank

I'd be pretty happy. I could write a book, or get some grad student in journalism to do it for me for $30,000.

But I'd be mighty pissed that more than half of the REST Mmy money went to lawyers.

[pitohui]

23. no you wouldn't be pretty happy, do the math

this dude spent 16 yrs in prison, he's unemployable

no one is gonna buy yet another "innocent man in prison 16 years" book, there are too many of them, your little book is not gonna make you any money

think abt what it means if $250K is all you have to live on, the rest of your life, in an environment when interest rates on CDs are around 1 percent (less than inflation) and interest rates on savings bonds/treasury bills are about zero

you would fight for every dollar you could get, because you have NOTHING coming from social security in your old age (you were in prison, not in the work force and your soc. security payments will be based on what you paid in)

this guy is fucked, screwed blue, and tattooed, and a mere $250K for 16 years out of his life is not gonna touch his problems

he needs enough money to keep him for a life, in an economic environment where risk free investments such as savings bonds and CDs are losing money to inflation

he's prob. v. grateful to these guys yet he MUST sue to try to get some of the money back because it's a matter of future survival

did you ever read "the thin blue line?" or see the movie? the man freed sued his lawyers, and in his book he told how he was v. grateful to them and owed EVERYTHING to them but, at the end of the day, he had to eat -- and they had claimed his life story as payment for their work -- he had NOTHING, he could not surrender his very own life story

how long could you live on $250K if you never had another dollar coming in? i guess if you were guaranteed to never get sick, never get in an accident, you could live what 10 years? and if you did get sick???? and if you chanced to live longer than 10 yrs?

i believe the state should pay the attorney's fees, seems only fair to me, but who knows if the right decision will be made...apparently 16 years out of a man's life is worth a mere $250K to some people...i just can't see it

[robo50]

29. You're absolutely right! I'd resent like hell those lawyers taking my

money away just because they're lawyers!

And the book would NOT sell, you're right there, too. But lots of prisoners get out after 16 or more years and find jobs. So I'm not convinced he's unemployable, just very unlucky.

Screw those lawyers for screwing him.

[notadmblnd]

24. I thougth lawyers usually took 1/3 of thier client awards

when did the price rise to 3/4 of the settlement?

[skipos]

25. I love how many DUers hate to see people get paid well for their work

There was a good clip in "Erin Brockovich" that dealt with the high percentage that lawyers take when they win. People forget that many lawyers get $0 when they lose.

[pitohui]

26. it isn't that we hate seeing the lawyers well paid

that was the point of my comment about the innocent man in "the thin blue line" (too many yrs, i no longer recall his name)

the lawyers can work and earn $$$ in many different cases, but the man who has been on death row/in prison for over a decade will, let's be real, never hold a job, doesn't have anything placed in social security, the money he gets as recompense now for being a prisoner is all he will ever realistically earn, for life

many of these men end up homeless, w.out hope

it's a complex feeling, they are of course grateful to those who worked to free them but they are also looking at HOLY SHIT, how can i live the rest of my life on this

unless you're like 70, could you live w. no genuine chance of ever being employable for $250K that has to last you for the rest of your life WITH NO SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME TO LOOK FORWARD TO BECAUSE YOU WERE IN PRISON DURING YOUR WORKING YEARS?

it isn't abt cheating the lawyers, it's abt survival

i believe the lawyers deserve every penny, but i also believe the state should pay it, not the victim

[Exultant Democracy]

27. Anything over 33% when working on a contingency basis is pretty outrageous

33% is the industry standard and 25% is out there if you look hard enough. Now if he took 1.3 for himself and they also got .65 then I am absolutely fine with that.

[marshall]

32. No good deed goes unpunished

And of course the NEW attorney, the one who is suing his former attorney and the charity organization that set him free, that new attorney is working for his payday.

Same culture that drives doctor's insurance rates through the roof.