Attorney Contingency Fee Cap Bill Passes Oklahoma House

Oklahomans would be able to vote to reduce the cap on plaintiff attorney contingency fees, allowing the injured party to retain more of their award, if legislation approved by the House of Representatives is placed on the ballot.

Currently, contingency fees are capped at 50 percent, in addition to attorney expenses and costs. Because of that, many plaintiffs often receive less than half of the final recovery in a lawsuit.

House Bill 1602 by Rep. Dan Sullivan would limit contingency fees to 33 percent of the first $1 million recovered, and 20 percent on awards above that amount. Attorneys would still be able to collect costs and expenses on top of the contingency fees collected in a case.

“We have passed several lawsuit reform bills in recent years, all of which have been blocked by the trial bar and the Democrats they support, including Gov. Henry and his veto pen,” said Sullivan, R-Tulsa. “This bill will let the people decide who they want to receive the majority of an award — the injured, or their attorney.”

Contingency fees are often used in cases where clients cannot afford to pay for an attorney up front, and instead must commit to giving the attorney a large portion of any award recovered in the case.

“This bill protects those who have been injured; everyone who opposed it is putting attorneys’ income over plaintiffs’ interests,” said Sullivan. “Those who have a financial interest in seeing the status quo maintained certainly don’t want to see the people have this option.”

“We have a tort system to compensate those who have been injured, not to enrich lawyers,” he said. “Don’t tell me you are closing the doors of the courthouse by telling lawyers they will no longer be a 50-50 partner with their client in these cases, but instead will now only get a third of the payout.”

House Speaker Chris Benge praised House members for supporting meaningful lawsuit reform, a top priority for Republicans this year.

“We have made no secret that lawsuit reform is a top priority this session, and this bill is a major victory in that effort,” said Benge. “Lawsuit reform will help attract business to our state, create jobs and reduce the cost of health care for working Oklahoma families.”

The bill passed the House with a vote of 54-46 today and now moves to the Senate for consideration. If House Bill 1602 is approved by the Legislature, the change would go to a vote of the people and would not require the governor’s signature.

Source: Oklahoma House of Representatives, www.lsb.state.ok.us/

Topics Oklahoma