Sorry to hear about the lack of any gain from the original offer, but congrats on the ordeal being over. Question about the numbers from your consult - was the lawyer saying you would pay him the maximum of ($1500,1/3 of judgment) or that his fee was $1500 + 1/3?
Lawyer_Payment = MAX($1500, 1/3*(Judgement-$6800);
Here is a quick table to give a couple examples of the price the lawyer would charge:
Judgement Lawyer Payment
$0 $1500
$6,800 $1500
$11,300 $1500
$15,000 $2733.33 (=(15000-6800)/3)
Hope this helps.