Uber is backing a ballot initiative in California that would change how attorney’s fees work in car crash cases, including rideshare collisions. The measure is branded as protecting accident victims from attorney “self-dealing,” and it is written to sound like a consumer-friendly reform.
What Is Uber Actually Trying To Do?
On paper, the proposal says injured people should keep at least 75 percent of any settlement or verdict. That leaves no more than 25 percent for attorney fees and all case costs combined, which sounds like a huge win for victims. Or does it?
First, we should note that the cap would not apply only to Uber cases. It would reach almost every motor vehicle accident in California, whether the crash involved a rideshare, a personal car, or a commercial vehicle.
The initiative has already been filed with the state and is moving through the process that could place it on a future statewide ballot.
Why A 25% Cap On Contingency Fees Sounds Generous, But Really Cuts Victims Off
At first glance, telling voters that injured people should keep at least three-quarters of their settlement sounds generous. The problem is in the fine print.
The proposed cap is not simply “25 percent for the lawyer.” It is 25 percent for every dollar that has to come out of the case: attorney time, expert fees, court reporters, investigators, accident reconstruction, medical record charges, and more. In many serious cases, those hard costs alone can reach tens of thousands of dollars. Once those are paid, the net fee left for the lawyer can drop into the single digits as a percentage of the overall recovery.
For a busy firm, that math matters. If taking a complex crash case means months or years of work, massive out-of-pocket costs, and a single-digit return at the end, many lawyers will simply stop taking those files. The cases that are hardest, riskiest, or most expensive to prove are the first cases that get turned away.
Who gets hurt first in that world?
People with catastrophic injuries, disputed liability, pre-existing conditions, or limited insurance. The exact people who need a strong lawyer the most become the people no one can afford to represent.
This and many other factors have led consumer protection groups like Consumer Watchdog to enter the conversation about Uber’s ongoing political leverage.
How Contingency Fees Actually Work For Real People
Most people hurt in a crash cannot afford to pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars an hour. That is why contingency fees exist.
With a standard contingency fee, the law firm fronts the costs for things like medical records, expert witnesses, investigations, depositions, and court filing fees. If the case is successful, the lawyer receives an agreed-upon percentage of the recovery, often around one-third for typical personal injury cases and more if the case goes into heavy litigation or trial.
If the case is not successful, the client usually does not owe attorney fees. The lawyer takes the loss on the time and the money invested in the file.
That model is what lets an injured person with little to no savings sit across from a skilled lawyer and actually have a fair fight with a billion-dollar company or a national insurance carrier.
How This Fits Into Uber’s Larger Strategy
This recently backed initiative does not appear in a vacuum. Uber has spent years reshaping California law to lower its own exposure.
The company (and some competitors in the space) invested heavily in Proposition 22 to keep drivers classified as independent contractors instead of employees. More recently, Uber pushed insurance changes in Senate Bill 371 that cut required uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for rideshare trips in California from one million dollars to sixty thousand dollars per person and three hundred thousand dollars per crash.
Those changes already mean less insurance money is available when a driver with low coverage causes a serious crash. Now, the new initiative tries to limit the ability of injured people to hire lawyers who can go after what is left.
Put together, the pattern is clear. Lower the coverage, then make it harder to bring a case at all.
Why Rideshare Car Crash Victims Would Feel This The Most
Rideshare cases are not simple fender-benders. As outlined by many personal injury lawyers online (and understood through our experience helping defend victims of a car crash) a single Uber crash can involve the driver’s personal policy, Uber’s commercial policy, excess or umbrella coverage, and fights over whether the driver was online, waiting for a ride, or in the middle of a trip when the crash happened.
On top of that, there can be corporate negligence claims about driver screening, app design, or safety practices. Lawyers often need to pull app data, GPS records, internal communications, and technical logs just to prove what really happened on the road.
All of that work takes time and money.
If firms cannot realistically fund that level of work under a hard cap, they will gravitate toward simpler, lower-risk files. The complicated Uber crash with multiple injuries and disputed fault becomes the case nobody wants, even though the stakes for the victim are enormous.
What This Means For Everyday Riders And Drivers
Even if you have never been in a crash, this kind of initiative still touches your life.
When companies know that serious lawsuits are rare, the financial pressure to keep people safe drops. If there are fewer strong cases, there is less reason to fix dangerous policies, invest in better training, or change the way drivers are screened and monitored.Two distinguished legal scholars recently covered this topic exceptionally well in The Sacramento Bee.
What I’m most concerned about, as a personal injury lawyer who helps real victims, is a quieter shift that could happen if this ballot initiative is passed.
When injured people cannot realistically recover from the company that helped create the risk, the costs do not disappear. They land on the victim’s health insurance, their own auto policy, their family, or public programs funded by taxpayers.
So while the initiative is marketed as cutting greedy lawyers out of the picture, the real effect is that large corporations pay less and everyone else pays more, albeit in different ways.
What Can I Do If I’m Hurt In An Uber Or Any Car Crash?
This initiative is still a proposal. It is not the law in California today. Talking with a lawyer sooner rather than later gives you a chance to understand your options under the rules that exist right now, not just the rules big companies would prefer.
So if you are hurt in a rideshare or other car crash, you still have the right to speak to a lawyer who serves your needs. That’s what we do at The Kaufman Law Firm every day, and we won’t stop anytime soon.
We’ll talk about what happened, what coverage may exist, and what steps you can take to protect your claim. That includes gathering evidence early, getting proper medical care, and avoiding quick, lowball offers from insurance adjusters who want the case closed before you understand the full picture.
Why Work With The Kaufman Law Firm?
At The Kaufman Law Firm, our focus is on you.
We put in the time and effort, proudly offering 100% free consultations where we carry the risk so you can focus on healing and getting your life back on track.
If Uber’s fee cap initiative moves forward, it will be another example of a large corporation trying to tilt the playing field. But you will still have the right to hire a lawyer who is prepared to dig into the facts, pull the data, work with experts, and push for the full value of your claim under current law.
So if you or someone you care about has been injured in an Uber crash or any auto accident in California, Martin Kaufman of The Kaufman Law Firm is here to talk through your situation and your options.
Reach out today for a free, no-pressure consultation and get clear information about your rights before you make any decisions.
