San Diego --- Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) along with Assembly members Anthony Pescetti (R – Rancho Cordova) and Lou Papan (D – Millbrae) have introduced legislation designed to provide basic consumer protections for citizens seeking to hire legal services.

The bill, Assembly Bill 2939, would ensure consumers are not misled by advertisements that provide too little information regarding fees and costs. It would also establish a mechanism to provide consumers with the basic information they need to make an informed decision when hiring a contingency fee attorney, and aid consumers in determining whether a fee is reasonable, all before entering into a contract.

"Basic consumer protections must apply to people seeking legal services," Pescetti said. "An injured person or someone who has lost a loved one, and who may be in immediate financial need, is at a distinct disadvantage when they need to hire a lawyer. They have little experience with the legal system, and no bargaining power."

AB 2939 would require attorneys advertising a contingency fee, or using messages along the lines of "no fee unless you win" to disclose in the advertisement whether costs or expenses would be added to the contingency fee (usually 33 to 40 percent) if the litigation is successful. Similar disclaimer requirements already exist for advertisers of financial services and rental cars, among others.

The bill would also require contingency fee attorneys to provide an up front disclosure statement which includes the estimated likelihood of success based on the case merits and whether liability has been admitted, the estimated number of hours to bring the claim to settlement or trial, the contingency fee rate, and a statement of how expenses will affect the fee. This requirement is modeled after the disclosures required in workers’ compensation cases.

"People need to understand what they are buying when they hire a contingency fee lawyer," said Andy Kotner, President of San Diego County CALA. "AB 2939 protects consumers by making them better informed before they hire a lawyer and after their cases is concluded. This also helps prevent fee disputes that county bar associations are now required to arbitrate."

AB 2939 would also require the attorney to keep accurate records of time spent on the case, and provide the consumer with a final statement of the total number of hours worked, the total contingency fee, and the resulting actual fee per hour, based on dividing the total contingency fee by the number of hours worked.

"The law and ethics rules require attorneys to charge a reasonable fee, but consumers currently aren’t given the information they need to determine whether a fee is reasonable," Kotner said. "That’s simply unfair for consumers."

Kotner added that AB 2939 attempts to plug the gaps in current law by providing consumers with the information they need to have before they engage a lawyer and after the case is settled or tried. The bill does not seek to abolish, cap or limit contingency fee agreements.

CALA is a nonprofit, grassroots public education organization dedicated to protecting access to the legal system for legitimate victims, protecting consumers’ rights in litigation, and serving as a watchdog over the legal system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain. More than 8,000 San Diego County citizens are CALA supporters.