Last Updated: December 2013
- If you find a lemon law attorney that you think you like, make sure they are NOT charging you anything to represent you. Under the California Lemon Law, the automobile manufacturer is required to pay all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to Plaintiff’s attorney if that attorney wins the case. Some unscrupulous lemon law attorneys will charge you up front for their services. In addition, some dishonest lemon law attorneys, will take a percentage of what they win for you on top of their attorney’s fees and costs. Our office does not charge anything up front and we do not take a percentage of what you are entitled to under the law.
- If you find a lemon law attorney who is not available to speak to you on the telephone, cannot give you an update on your case, or does not return your e-mails, this is not the attorney for you. Our firm prides itself on being accessible to our clients. We would not be here without our clients and we pay them the respect that they deserve.
- If you find a lemon law attorney who cannot give you a reasonable estimate of how much your repurchase refund will be and they cannot give you a rough estimate of what an alternative “cash and keep” settlement will be, they may not be very experienced or knowledgeable regarding the lemon law. Before any of our clients retain our services, we calculate their potential refunds for them so they know what to expect in a settlement. If we do not believe that a potential client has a repurchase case, we still give them a rough idea of how much we can obtain for them in a “cash and keep” type of settlement so they can plan accordingly.
- If you find a lemon law attorney who is not located in California, this is probably not the attorney for you. Lemon law cases are not typically that complex, however, many lemon law cases require an attorney to appear at a Case Management Conference, Legal Inspection, Deposition, Mediation, Settlement Conference, and even in rare cases, for trial. If your attorney is out of state, either they will appear by telephone at these events, or worse yet, they will send someone who is unfamiliar with you or your case. Ideally, you should hire a lemon law attorney in your own city so that you can meet with them whenever you like. If you live in a small city, you should hire a lemon law attorney who has an office within a couple of hours of your location so that you can be assured that your attorney will actually attend these important events on your behalf.
- If you find a lemon law attorney who cannot tell you up front who will be representing the defendant in your case, they probably do not have that much experience in handling lemon law cases. Automobile manufacturers rarely change law firms so most of the automobile manufacturers have used the same attorneys for many years. If your lemon law attorney does not know who will represent the automobile manufacturer, or have a longstanding relationship with the other side’s law firm, you may be in trouble. Our firm has been specializing solely in lemon law cases for the last nine years and we have excellent working relationships with all of the attorneys who represent the automobile manufacturers which helps us to ensure the best settlements for our clients.