Proposition Summary

Limits fees which plaintiffs' attorneys may collect, if payable contingent on plaintiffs' recovery of compensation, in personal injury, wrongful death, other tort cases. Hourly rates not limited. Requires demand against defendants for compensation with supporting information. Allows defendants to respond with prompt settlement offer with supporting information. If accepted, plaintiffs' attorneys may not collect contingent fees exceeding 15% of defendants' offer. If not accepted, they may collect fees above 15% only on part of recovery in excess of defendants' prompt settlement offer. Fiduciary relationship applies to fee agreement between plaintiff, plaintiff's attorney. Summary of Legislative Analyst's Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact: Adoption of this measure would have an unknown net fiscal impact on state and local governments.

Proposition Number

202

Year

1996

Document Type

Proposition

Pass/Fail

Fail

Popular Vote Results

Y: 2769466; A: 48.79; N: 2907347; B: 51.21

Election Type

Primary

Proposition Type

Initiative

For Author

Mary Anderson, Executive Director, California Business Roundtable; Garry Deloss, Former Executive Director, California Consumer Organization; Thomas Proulx, Author of Quicken personal finance software

Against Author

Candace Lightner, Founder, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD); Harvey Rosenfield, Director, Foundation For Taxpayer and Consumer Rights

Rebuttal Author

Michael Shames, Executive Director, Utility Consumer Action Network (UCAN); Lois Wellington, President, Congress of California Seniors

Rebuttal Against Author

Michael Johnson, Policy Director, Voter Revolt to Cut Insurance Rates

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