Smart Law Blog

A “contingency fee” is a unique payment arrangement with a lawyer. This arrangement allows the lawyer to represent the client without an upfront payment when a case begins. Instead of an upfront payment, the client agrees to give a percentage of the award if the case is successful.

Typically, a contingency fee arrangement is used in cases where a person has been injured and is seeking money “damages” to remedy an injury. Lawyers often decide to represent a client with a contingency fee arrangement based on the nature of the case and the amount of damages that are being claimed. Some types of claims have limitations on how much an injured person can recover in damages, which may affect a lawyer’s decision to represent a client on a contingency fee basis.

Some contingency fee arrangement may require reimbursement of expenses as well as the agreed upon contingency fee percentage. A contingency fee arrangement may also involve a graduated contingency fee percentage, a contingency fee percentage that changes, depending on whether the case goes to trial or meets some other procedural benchmark.

A contingency fee agreement must be in made in writing. Here, it’s important for clients to carefully review the terms of any contingency fee agreement with a lawyer and ask questions about terms in the agreement that are not understood, before entering the agreement. Clients may also find it valuable to consult with another lawyer for advice about a contingency fee agreement they are considering.

The Courts of Appeal are California’s intermediate courts of review. People who are not satisfied with a Trial Court decision can appeal their case in an Appellate Court. When a party to a prior case “appeals,” that party is asking a higher-level court to change what the Trial Court decided.

The role of the Courts of Appeal is not to give new trials, but to review the Superior Court record (court files and transcripts) to decide if legal errors were made. To do this, the Court of Appeals may hear arguments from each side. Each side gets a chance to make a presentation and to answer the judges’ questions. The oral arguments are open to the public, but there are no juries or witnesses in an appeal. The Courts of Appeal cannot review death penalty cases.

In each Court of Appeal, a panel of three judges, called “justices,” decides appeals from Superior Courts. The Courts of Appeal can agree with the decision of the Trial Court, agree in part and disagree in part, or disagree and reverse the Trial judge’s decision. The Courts’ decisions are called opinions. The opinions are public and are posted on the Supreme Court’s website.

Changing your legal name in California involves a process with a local court. This process can take up to three months to complete. This article gives some general steps that are involved. Keep in mind these steps can change, and because there are many details that must be correct in the process of a name change, to get a name change completed as quickly and easily as possible, it may be helpful to have a lawyer assist you in the process of a name change.

Initially, a “Petition for Change of Name” must be filed with the correct court. This initial process may require multiple forms to be completed and different courts may require different forms. Before filing your “Petition for Change of Name” with the court clerk, it is strongly recommended that those forms are reviewed for accuracy before filing. Also, before filing, it is important to have at least two copies of all of the forms you are filing, as the court will keep your original copies and you will need additional copies for you records and other purposes.

There may be a requirement to publish the Order to Show Cause for Change of Name in a newspaper for a set period of time, four weeks for example. Typically, courts will have a list of approved newspapers for publishing legal notices such as this.

For a “Petition for Change of Name,” the court may or may not require a hearing. If there is a hearing, you will need to show up to court for the hearing.

If the court approves your request for a change of name, the Judge will sign a document called “Decree Changing Name.” With the signed decree, you can get a certified copy of the decree from the court clerk. From there, you can use the certified copy of the decree to change legal documents, such as your birth certificate, social security card, and other identification.

In this process, the court may deny a name change if it finds that a name is being changed to commit fraud or to avoid legal issues, to avoid the police, or for any other illegal reason.

Costs related to this process will including a filing fee with the court, fees to publish a legal notice (if required), and fees to pay a lawyer, if you decide to have a lawyer help you through the name change process. Note, for very low-income people, the court may grant a waiver of court fees.