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When a lawyer is assisting at trial, check on whether that lawyer thinks he or she is going to be paid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

In Baltimore is a trial between two law firms over one assisting another in the defense of an investment fraud. See Defense Attorneys Square Off in Fee Dispute from the American Lawyer on Law.com. At issue is $200,000 and whether the law firm or the client agreed to pay. Jones now claims that Martin agreed to accept his assistance and promised that Blank Rome, not Chapman, would pay his fee in exchange for access to Jones' wisdom about the case against Chapman. Such an arrangement would be unusual but not entirely unheard of in a high-profile trial where a defendant is hard-pressed to pay mounting legal bills. For their part, Blank Rome and Martin agree that Chapman wanted Jones added to the defense team, and did so to appease him. But Blank Rome says there never was any agreement that Jones would be paid, the firm itself certainly never agreed to pay him, and what little it did pay him was offered to satisfy other clients who had an interest in the outcome of the case against Chapman.continue to full post

Full post as published by Law Of Criminal Defense on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).