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If the legislature determines the current situation allowing clients to waive the attorney fee cap is problematic, it has at least three options. One option is to pass an amendment to specify that clients cannot waive the law’s protection. As noted before, California courts have interpreted its law as not allowing waivers. This option would almost certainly result in a challenge to the law’s constitutionality. In the Salerno case Judge Vertefeuille stated that the plaintiff “ presented to the court a compelling case for declaring the statute unconstitutional”. It is not possible to know for sure whether such a challenge would be successful. At least two states have upheld their attorney fee cap law against constitutional challenges (Indiana and Tennessee) while at least one state (New Hampshire) has invalidated its attorney fee cap law.
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