Practice Areas

• Car, Truck and Motorcycle Accidents
• Construction Accidents
• Product Liability

Blog

General

• Did the Woman Killed at Drag Race Assume the Risk of Being Struck by Crash Debris?
• Lawsuit Abuse Article in NY Daily News Raises Interesting Questions
• Woman Attacked by Chimp Has Reasonable Argument for Large Award Against State of Connecticut
• Lawyers Are Not the Problem With Our Health Care System
• Dram Shop Case Against Waterfront Bars May Be On Target

FAQ

General

• I have been injured while skiing and feel that the resort where I hurt myself is responsible.  Can I sue the resort for my injuries and medical expenses?
• How much money can I get for pain and suffering as part of my injury case?
• Why Does It Take So Long For An Injury Case to Be Resolved?

Library

General

• What a Bad, Stupid Law
• Why You MUST Get a DNA Test if You Might Be the Father
• New York Injury Attorney Gives Advice that Could Save Your Life- And Your Case

News

• Gander Mountain Treestand Recall Due to Lawsuit Brought by Livingston County Man...
• Test News Article...

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What's Fair AND What Isn't

Are You Kidding Me?

Having saturated the airwaves, billboards and phonebooks with their advertising in and around Rochester with their smiling faces (and bald heads) for better than ten years, a large personal injury firm in Rochester, New Y (let’s call them Bellino and Carnes) has recently embarked on a new marketing campaign. What is their new message in which they have invested untold tens of thousands of dollars? “Hire us. We have a no fee guarantee”. Are you kidding me?

The reason I chuckle when I hear them proclaim their “no fee guarantee” is because it is nothing new at all. It is the same message (although with questionable packaging) they and every other personal injury attorney have been cramming down the throats of the public since attorney advertising became acceptable on accident cases more than twenty five years ago: “Hire us on a contingency fee basis- if we don’t get you any money, you don’t pay us a thing. But if we collect for you, you owe us 33.33% of the take.”

I don’t know how this “new” message will be received by the general public, but I hope folks see through it for what it is.

If personal injury lawyers really wanted to be fair to their clients and offer them something truly new and innovative, they would do what my office does- give clients a break and charge them less than 1/3 of the amount recovered, and base their fees on the amount of work actually performed by the lawyer. Why should the lawyer take 1/3 of the client’s money if the lawyer has put very little work into the file?
My clients sign a retainer agreement that will pay me as little as 15% of the amount recovered, gradually moving up to 33.33%, depending on how much work my office performs. Fair to me and fair to them. And no need to try to hoodwink the public into thinking they are getting something new and different. I call this fee arrangement Finally Fair Fees ©, and you can learn more about it at my website www.cannonlaw.net.

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