Understanding Contingency Fees
The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin works on a contingency fee arrangement. That is another way of saying that the attorney's fee is based on a percentage of the gross recovery. This arrangement allows many individuals to obtain legal representation even if they do not have funds to retain a lawyer at the outset of a case. While a case may have fees and costs associated with it, there is no hourly fee charged by the firm. Simply put, if you do not recover compensation from your claim, there is no attorney's fee.
In certain cases, such as class actions, the court may specifically set the attorney fee, but in those situations the fee will still not exceed the contingent percentage in the firm's fee agreement.
James S. Farrin, founder and president of the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, has worked in firms where lawyers are paid by the hour, as well as those where they are paid on a contingency fee basis. He believes that contingency fee arrangements better align the objective of both attorneys and clients: to get favorable results. If a client doesn't get compensation, the attorney doesn't get a fee.
"If we don't achieve a result for a client, we don't get a fee," Farrin said. "I love that because — if we can't get someone a result, I don't want a fee. We're not paid on the hours we work on the case or the time we put in. We have one incentive, and that is to get our client a result."
Contingency Fees and Injured Clients
Through its Workers' Compensation, Personal Injury and Social Security Disability departments, the firm has helped thousands of injured clients. The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin currently has more than 20 attorneys and more than 100 professional staff members. Among our attorneys, three are Board Certified Specialists in Workers' Compensation Law, and one is a Board Certified Specialist in Social Security Law. Several of the attorneys in our Personal Injury Department have at least 10 years of legal experience.
Our firm is proud to employ more than 20 bilingual staff members and attorneys. Our Spanish-speaking clients usually speak directly to Spanish-speaking staff members and attorneys, rather than relying on translators.
Contingency Fees and Intellectual Property
The firm also has a unique contingency-fee based Intellectual Property Department for certain infringement matters. The department's goal is to allow small-business owners, artists and inventors to protect their creative endeavors when they may not otherwise have the resources necessary to protect their investments.
"In my present practice as a patent lawyer and copyright lawyer, I have come to appreciate that many of my clients simply do not have the financial resources to pay legal fees through traditional by-the-hour means," says Tara J. Williams, head of the Intellectual Property Department. "My clients presently enjoy a contingency fee arrangement that allows them access to quality legal services without the burden of hourly legal fees."
Williams has more than 19 years of experience as an intellectual property attorney. Among her many professional affiliations is membership in the American Intellectual Property Law Associations' (AIPLA's) Inventors Issues Committee. She is also an admitted attorney of the North Carolina State Bar and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
