If they don't, you keep the assets and are out only the attorney's fee.

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In April, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Cafra attorney's fee should be paid to the client, not directly to the lawyer.

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Unless they are a fiduciary to you (like an attorney, a doctor or a fee-only financial planner), they have no responsibility to look out for you.

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Knight's attorney said he could not immediately comment on the large fee.

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To bridge this disconnect, we started quoting flat fees and that brought in more business, but it was mostly confined to those situations where the Russian or Korean company had virtually no choice but to retain an attorney in the U.S. And then we realized the fee squabbles would be the least of our problems.

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