Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
You touched an issue that I was about to ask. How does legal fees, your legal fees as an attorney, come into play in medical malpractice?
Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL
It’s the same as any other personal injury case. We are entitled to take a percentage of the settlement and we take 33.3% if the case is not filed, and 40% of the settlement if a lawsuit is filed, and those are fees that are set and regulated by the Florida Bar.
Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media
Oh, I didn’t realize they were regulated. In a number of other states, they’re not. If you go to trial, does it change?
Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL
No, it’s the same filing for purposes of the 40%. That gets triggered when a complaint is filed in the court. It doesn’t necessarily require going to trial. The very act of filing a complaint and the defendant filing an answer to that complaint triggers the 40% fee.