Lemon Law Lawyer Vince Megna Potests Law That Caps Fees

An attorney known as the country's king of lemon law litigation said Friday that he will no longer represent Wisconsin Republicans because he's disgusted with a bill that would cap lawyer fees.

Vince Megna said he already has turned down one potential client he had been talking to since summer.

"I'm just not going to help them get redress under the very laws they helped destroy," the Milwaukee lawyer said.

Megna is upset with a bill that passed the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday that would make it a presumption that attorneys' fees should be no greater than three times the damages awarded. The bill was motivated largely by a case in which Megna was awarded more than $150,000 in fees.

Megna and dozens of other people testified against the proposal, arguing it would destroy Wisconsin's consumer protection law because attorneys would be unwilling to take smaller cases that may take a lot of time to litigate.

Megna, a Democrat, called the Republican-led public hearing process a fraud and a sham, and said he believes the measure's passage in the GOP-controlled Legislature was preordained, despite the overwhelming testimony against it.

"In response, I'm not representing Republicans in my practice. Period," Megna said. That prohibition will also extend to his wife's family, who are all Republicans, he said.

"They can try to find somebody else or live with it," Megna said.