Co-Counseling
The Firm is available to co-counsel or serve as trial counsel or counsel on appeal in all areas of employment law and consumer protection, as well as serve as local to out-of-state counsel. The Firm’s attorneys have significant experience at trial and on appeal, and are intimately familiar with local rules and procedures in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States, as well as Illinois state courts and administrative agencies. For co-counseling or to retain the Firm as local counsel, please contact Alejandro Caffarelli.
Subject to all applicable ethical rules and regulations, our Firm offers a referral fee to referring attorneys at no cost to the client, of up to 20% of contingent fees recovered by the Firm from the referred client, for the specific matter referred at the time of the initial referral only, minus any adjustments for non-recovered fees and unreimbursed expenses. For example, if the Firm advances $2,000 in expenses and bills a total of $35,000 in fees, but only recovers $30,000 – the referral fee would be $4,480 ($30,000-$2,000 (expense recovery) = $28,000 (fee recovery); $28,000/$35,000 = 80% (recovery percentage rate); $28,000*20%*80% = $4,480 (referral fee)), assuming all other conditions have been met.
In order for a referring attorney to be eligible for a referral fee, the Firm must be notified in writing, prior to the referral, that a referral fee is being sought and that the referring attorney agrees to assume joint financial responsibility in the case, consistent with Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5. The referring attorney must also receive written acknowledgment from the Firm that a referral fee will be paid. The Firm will not pay a referral fee if the client also found the Firm through other sources and/or was also referred to the Firm by another person. Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 also requires that a client specifically agree in writing to any referral fee arrangement among attorneys. As a result, the Firm will only pay referral fees where the client has agreed in writing, and no referral fee will be paid where the client refuses to agree. Moreover, if the referred client joins together with other non-referred individuals in a multiple-party lawsuit, or brings a class action lawsuit, the referral fee will be based upon the pro-rated amount of fees attributable to the referred client’s individual monetary recovery only, and not on any portion of the fees attributable to non-referred parties or other class members. Finally, the Firm does not pay referral fees for matters billed on an hourly or project-fee basis, fees awarded to the Firm by the court from a class action common fund, fees awarded directly to the Firm by the court as the result of a fee petition, or any other fees that are not specifically paid by or on behalf of the consenting client to the Firm under the fee agreement.
Contact Our Chicago Employment Law Firm
If you have questions about working with the Firm as co-counsel or local counsel, or about our referral fee policy, please contact Alejandro Caffarelli.
