Lawyer Incomes

[afterhours]

Well..its no surprise they made such kind of money. Conrad Black spent 11 million on his lawyer and yet still ended up in jail. I was surprised to read he had to pay retainer fees in millions upfront. Looks like the lawyer already knew he would lose the case and wanna get paid befor Conrad got locked up.

It's always up front in criminal cases. Lawyers who do this kind of law would be idiots to trust their clients.

 

[TeasePlease]

Guys like Harvey are entrepreneurs. Class actions are a business and they are banking on a payout.

They make good money if a case settles quickly. If a case actually goes to trial (and through appeals), they will earn a big paycheck, but not that much more than their standard billing rates plus interest for carrying the lawsuit. It will get more interesting over the next couple years as litigation financing matures in Canada. The risks/reward structures are in a huge state of flux.

There's no pot of gold in criminal cases.

 

[Aardvark154]

At this late date it might be nice to actually have a link to the article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1154612--the-verdict-lawyer-well-paid-at-8-million

 

[rld]

At this late date it might be nice to actually have a link to the article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1154612--the-verdict-lawyer-well-paid-at-8-million

It could be Harvey. But there are two other guys in Windsor who could well have had a big year and done that number...and that is just amongst the guys that I know.

 

[Possum Trot]

Had a veteran litigator over for dinner on Saturday. He mentioned this and said it was someone who did a lot of class action work where one, I guess, gets a piece of the pie if you win.

 

[Rockslinger]

There's no pot of gold in criminal cases.

Unless the criminal is Conrad Black or another wealthy dude.

 

[Narg]

Huge variance. In the GTA, there are sole practitioners in Etobicoke making $60,000 a year after expenses and there are partners at the big downtown firms making $1.5 million. First year associates in small firms in Hamilton can be paid as little as $40,000, while first years in the finacial core make $100,000+. Most lawyers work in small firms (1-15 lawyers) and none of them are getting paid like the guys in the top firms (or working the same hours).

 

[afterhours]

Huge variance. In the GTA, there are sole practitioners in Etobicoke making $60,000 a year after expenses and there are partners at the big downtown firms making $1.5 million. First year associates in small firms in Hamilton can be paid as little as $40,000, while first years in the finacial core make $100,000+. Most lawyers work in small firms (1-15 lawyers) and none of them are getting paid like the guys in the top firms (or working the same hours).

I guess that you also might mention that some sole practitioners make way more that their employed peers of the same vintage, and work less hours too.