Legal fees can feel like a complicated and overwhelming issue, but knowing a little bit about how legal fees work can help you avoid a lot of stress and confusion. Generally, attorneys can charge for their services on an hourly basis or via contingency fee. If you’ve suffered a loss to your investment portfolio, you may wonder if you can afford to hire an attorney. The short answer is yes. In this article, I will explain how attorneys’ fees work in an investment loss case and what to expect when making a claim.
Contingency Fee
If you’ve suffered an investment loss due to the negligence or misconduct of your financial advisor, don’t panic about attorney’s fees! Each party is typically responsible for their own attorney’s fees, unless there is something that states otherwise in the contract with your financial advisor or there is an applicable statute that triggers a recovery of attorney’s fees. However, you will not owe a penny in attorney’s fees to us unless we recover your losses. That is because we work on a contingency fee. What that means is that we only receive a fees for our legal services if an award or settlement is acquired and collected. Irrespective of the amount of effort we devote to your claim, we are only entitled to a fee if we recover your loss for you. Accordingly, we risk our fees on the confidence that you will win your case. At Schwartz Investor Advocates, our attorneys will represent you on a contingency fee basis.
Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions regarding investment loss claims and the fees associated with these claims. We would like to clarify and debunk some of these myths:
Myth 1: “The recovery of a claim is not worth the hassle”
- Many people seem to believe that the outcomes of a claim aren’t worth the hassle of following through with it. But in reality, what’s to lose if your loss at the hands of someone else is substantial? Your attorney will do all of the discovery, analysis, investigation and due diligence with you/for you, with compensation contingent on recovering your losses at the end of the claim.
Myth 2: “Attorneys are only worried about their paychecks”
- There are a lot of misconceptions regarding attorneys being money-oriented for only their benefit. But in reality, our job is to help you recover your financial losses and we place your interests before ours. Our main concern is to protect investors from negligent financial advisors at all costs. We fight for the investor who may have trusted the wrong person or has been misled by their financial advisor. Most people think there’s no recourse for these kinds of damages. There is, and we can help you!
How it Works
Before starting a claim, an attorney will meet with you, at no charge, to answer any questions you might have. At this point, we will provide honest feedback about the viability and strength of your case. Not every investment loss can be pursued because not every investment loss is due to financial advisor misconduct or fraud.
If we believe you have a viable case, your attorney will represent you in exchange for a percentage of your final recovery. Money recovered through awards or settlements will be used to pay our fee and any unpaid expenses, while paying the balance to you. If we don’t recover any money for you, we won’t charge a fee. There is little downside to inquiring about your investment loss situation. Take no chances; request a FREE consultation with us.
Our team is here to answer any questions you might have and to be straightforward with you about your potential case. Along with my team here at Schwartz Investor Advocates, I have dedicated my career to helping individuals who have experienced significant losses and been taken advantage of by their financial advisor. Since the laws and regulations that apply to financial advisors are complex, I always recommend consulting with an expert if you are unsure as to whether you are a victim of misconduct or fraud. If you would like to talk to me about losses you have incurred, or any other concerns you may have, please contact me at 1-855-463-9859 or [email protected] for a free consultation. You can also request a free case evaluation by sending us a message through our secure contact form.
