Retaining Of Scott Kocher

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 In May, Scott F. Kocher approached the Stephens family, offering to handle Qadira's case on a contingency basis. Details of this initial encounter are elaborated in excerpts from Karellen's book, "Justice For Qadira." 

"It was after this visit that I was contacted by Scott F Kocher of Vangelisti Kocher LLP.  He called me up one day and said that he was a special burn attorney and that he could help Qadira.  He said that burn injury cases could be complex and he knew about these things.  To this day I still do not know where Scott came from but I suspect someone sent him our way."  (Pg. 45)

"He came over in a smart looking suit.  He was young and he seemed to have a lot of experience.  He had gone to Harvard and he impressed us with his qualifications.  He seemed very confident that he was the attorney for us.  He said that he was a special burn attorney and that burn injury cases were complicated.  He spent a long time talking with us just making conversation and explaining his process." (Pg. 45)

"His presence was going to make dealing with the insurance company a lot easier.  Next time Beth Phipps showed up we wouldn’t be all alone and Scott would know what to do.  The entire circumstance was already very uncomfortable to talk about and it felt easier to communicate with someone more our age.  He told us about some cases he had settled for burn victims and he said he would be willing to take the case on a contingency fee." (Pg. 46)

 Kocher formally agreed to represent the Stephens on May 24th, 2007, as detailed in the agreement document provided below.

Initially, the relationship between the Stephens family and Vangelisti Kocher LLP began positively. However, as you will discover in the subsequent section, this relationship significantly deteriorated by the end of the legal proceedings. This decline was primarily due to a series of poor decisions made by Scott Kocher, which exploited the trust the Stephens had placed in him.