RENO, Nev. (Legal Newsline) — An unhappy client has sued a Nevada law firm that he says is wrongly trying to take 45% of his settlement.
Jesse Castillo filed a complaint Oct. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against The Patriot Law Firm Corporation and Atkinson, Watkins & Hoffman LLP, doing business as Battle Born Injury Lawyers.
According to his complaint, Castillo filed a malpractice claim against health care providers in Clark County. He claims negligence resulted in his becoming paraplegic.
He disputes the defendant law firms' attorney's fees and litigation cost calculation, alleging it violates Nevada law pertaining to fee agreements. He claims that in August of 2020, the State Bar of Nevada issued a disciplinary proceedings and found the contingency fee contract - which provided for 47% of the first $50,000 recovered, 33.3% of the next $50,000, 25% of the next $500,000 recovered and 15% of the amount of recovery that exceeds $600,000 - was a greater fee than allowed by Nevada law.
Castillo seeks monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. He is represented by Bradley Brooke in Las Vegas.
U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada case number 2:23-CB-01619-CDS-DJA