How Wrongful Death Lawyer Fees Work in Jacksonville

Florida publishes a schedule, and it is real

Most states cap nothing and simply ban an unreasonable fee. Florida is different. Rule 4-1.5(f)(4)(B) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar sets numeric limits for personal injury, property damage, and death from personal injuries based on tortious conduct, products liability included. A contract exceeding those limits is presumed, unless rebutted, to be a clearly excessive fee. A family here reading a percentage can check it against a published figure.

The tiers before an answer is filed

Where the matter resolves before the defendant files an answer, or before a demand for appointment of arbitrators, subdivision (f)(4)(B)(i)a fixes the schedule in three layers. Thirty three and one third percent of any recovery up to $1 million. Plus 30 percent of any portion between $1 million and $2 million. Plus 20 percent of any portion above $2 million. The tiers stack, so a $2.5 million settlement at this stage draws on all three layers.

What changes once the defense answers

Subdivision (f)(4)(B)(i)b governs the period after the answer or the arbitration demand is filed, through entry of judgment. The first layer rises to 40 percent of any recovery up to $1 million, while the next two hold at 30 percent between $1 million and $2 million and 20 percent above $2 million. That step from one third to 40 percent matters, because in a contested death case an answer is filed as a matter of course.

The variant nobody mentions

A third variant, (f)(4)(B)(i)c, covers the case where every defendant admits liability in the answers and asks for a trial only on damages. There the schedule reads 33 and one third percent up to $1 million, plus 20 percent between $1 million and $2 million, plus 15 percent above $2 million. Those upper tiers are the lowest in the rule, and a contract keeping the contested percentages after liability is conceded is worth a question.

Appeals add five points, not a new contract

Subdivision (f)(4)(B)(i)d permits an additional 5 percent of any recovery after institution of any appellate proceeding, or of postjudgment relief or action required to collect on the judgment. That is an addition to whichever tier already applies. Under (f)(4)(D) the lawyer with primary responsibility takes no less than 75 percent of the total fee and a secondary lawyer no more than 25 percent absent court authorization.

The lawful way to exceed the schedule

The limits are not absolute. Under (f)(4)(B)(ii), a client who cannot obtain the lawyer of the client's choice because of those limits may petition the court where the matter would be filed, or the circuit court where the cause of action arose, to approve the fee contract. Approval follows a finding that the client fully understands the rights being given up and the terms. The petition may be filed before suit or with the complaint, and that part of the file may be sealed. Authorization does not foreclose a later inquiry into whether the fee charged was clearly excessive.

Three days to walk away, and a written closing statement

Before any tier matters, (f)(4)(A) requires the client to have received, read and signed the Statement of Client's Rights. The client may cancel by written notice within 3 business days of signing, owing no fee for work done in that window, although funds reasonably advanced may be recovered. At the other end, (f)(5) requires a closing statement itemizing every cost and expense and stating each lawyer's fee, signed by all participating lawyers and by the client and retained for 6 years. Where a recovery is paid over time, (f)(6) calculates the percentage on the cost of the structured settlement or its present money value, whichever is less.

Who files, and who has to approve the deal

Section 768.20 puts the action in the hands of the decedent's personal representative, who recovers for the survivors and the estate. Survivors are defined in 768.18 to include the spouse, children, parents and certain dependent relatives, and that section defines minor children as children under 25 years of age. Section 768.25 then requires court approval of a settlement, as to amount or apportionment, whenever a survivor objects or a survivor who is a minor or an incompetent is affected. Section 768.26 controls how the money leaves the pot: fees and expenses are paid by the personal representative and deducted from the awards to the survivors and the estate in proportion, except expenses incurred for one survivor, which come from that person's share. Under 744.387, a natural guardian may settle a claim up to $15,000 without bond, while a larger net settlement requires a guardian of the property.

What the Duval County Clerk charges

Opening a circuit civil case in Jacksonville costs $401, with $10 for each summons issued and $2.50 for every defendant past the first five. A counterclaim, cross claim or third party claim is $395, and certification of a court record $2 per document. A deposit into the court registry runs 3 percent of the first $500 and 1.5 percent of each subsequent $100. On the probate side, formal administration is $401, guardianship of the property $400, and guardianship of the person alone $235. An inventory audit costs $85 once a ward's property exceeds $25,000. None of that is attorney fee, and the contract should say who advances it.