Litigation Analysis: Risks and Rewards

Every litigator worth his or her salt should provide litigation clients with an assessment of risks and rewards.  For instance, today I met with a client who was considering litigation against his father's second wife.  The client's father had executed a Will in 1994, leaving all of his property to his wife, and the son suspected that his father's wife had used undue influence in getting the Will signed.  Son only learned of this Will after his father's death, in 2002.

The client and I talked about issues such as:

-the strength of his case -- did he have any evidence to support a claim of undue influence?

-Illinois law -- what are your chances for success based on the above?

-a roadmap for how to proceed, involving...

a petition for formal proof of Will
a Will contest (on grounds of undue influence)
a citation proceeding

-my fees -- what will all of the above cost?

-practical issues, such as the potential payoff (in terms of money).  One thing my research turned up was a deed by which the client's father transferred his house to himself and his wife as joint tenants, meaning that the house isn't subject to probate.  In other words, even if the father's Will is found to be invalid, the son won't receive any portion of the house.