Did you know that even if you win your discrimination lawsuit and a jury or judge awards you monetary damages and a portion of those damages are paid, you could still walk away with nothing?
How is that possible? Because after the verdict, collecting on the judgment is a whole separate process. If the person or company you sued refuses to pay, you’ll need more legal help to go after them - and those services come at a cost which will come out of your portion of the award, not your lawyer’s. In other words, the lawyers who represented you in court and the lawyers who try to collect afterward can both walk away with their cut, even if you - the person harmed - end up with nothing (or close to it).
But before we talk about this more, a bit of context on the inspiration for this post…
The Article: Lawyers Market Big #MeToo Verdicts, but Their Clients Struggle to Collect (Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2025)
In short: It tells the story of #MeToo victims who won their lawsuits for millions of dollars - but years later, they’ve received little or none of the money.
One example quoted in the story is a victim who won a $7 million judgment but declined to pursue collections after learning the breakdown would look like this:
Trial Lawyers (to fight claims in court): 50% | $3,500,000
Collection Lawyers (to collect settlement): 36% | $2,520,000
Victim / Person Who Suffered Harm: 14% | $980,000
Now to be fair — lawyers take on risk, especially when they work on contingency. They deserve to be paid, but it doesn’t seem right that they can receive 100% of their share while the actual victim walks away with nothing. Plus they’re not required to contribute to the cost of collection services, even though they stand to benefit when the money comes in.
Sadly, for some of these victims, pursuing justice left them worse off. No money. No job prospects - thanks to public headlines. And nothing to show for the years of stress, emotional toll, and legal battles they endured.