Michael Schafle, Esq.Michael Schafle, Esq.No settlement means no fee — the firm advances filing and record-request costs and collects a set percentage only after a recovery. Michael Schafle, Esq. reviews Sun Ship and refinery work history for families across the city's riverfront corridor before quoting anything.
| Fee Component | Typical Range / Detail |
|---|---|
| Attorney fee (contingency) | 33% – 40% of settlement or verdict |
| Upfront retainer | $0 — no hourly billing |
| Filing and court costs | Advanced by the firm, repaid from recovery |
| Medical and employment record requests | Covered by the firm during case-building |
| Fee due date | Only after money is actually paid to the client |
Contingency Fee Breakdown for Mesothelioma Claims
The percentage is written into a signed fee agreement before the firm requests a single employment record. There's no negotiation mid-case and no surprise increase after a trust fund or defendant responds. A client can read the exact number — say 35% — on page one, before deciding to move forward.
Depositions, expert pathologists, and union pension record requests cost real money during an active asbestos case. The firm pays these costs as they occur and recovers them only out of the final settlement — never billed monthly, never invoiced while the case is open.
Some fee agreements set a lower percentage if a case resolves through an asbestos trust fund without litigation, and a higher percentage if it proceeds to a filed lawsuit or trial. Families should ask to see this tiered structure in writing, not hear it summarized on the phone.
If a claim doesn't result in a settlement or verdict, the client owes nothing — not for the hours worked, not for the records pulled, not for the filing itself. On r/legaladvice, families researching this often ask whether a trust-fund payout counts the same as a lawsuit win for fee purposes — it does; the contingency percentage applies to trust distributions the same way it applies to a jury verdict.