Is A Negligent Attorney Entitled To A Fee in Kentucky

One of the questions I am often asked about by potenial clients that are exploring legal malpractice actions against their current or former attorneys is whether the current attorney will still be entitled to a fee if they fire the attorney.  This situation generally arises when an attorney has not handled a personal injury case properly, but the client still recovers some money (although not as much as they would have received had the attorney not been negligent) or, they attorney is hired on an hourly basis but performs negligently and the client wants to know if they are entitled to a refund of the fees they paid the negligent lawyer.
The law in most states, including Kentucky, is that a negligent lawyer is not entitled to the contractual fee if he or she is fired for cause.  In fact, Kentucky has a specific statute that entitles a client to a refund if the lawyer is negligent.  Or, to put it another way, if a lawyer is negligent, they can be sued and the fee they received becomes another element of damages.
Hans