Michael | February 28, 2023 | Personal Injury
A personal injury lawyer can help you or your loved one win the settlement you deserve. This does not necessarily mean you should hire a personal injury attorney immediately. Choosing a personal injury attorney is important, and we always recommend being careful when you enter an agreement. The cost of a personal injury lawyer can end up being a real problem for some people.
So, how much does a personal injury lawyer cost? The answer is that it depends. Different lawyers can use their fee structures. This article covers some important things to look for and will help you know what to expect from the cost of a personal injury lawyer.
How Much Are Personal Injury Lawyer Fees?
There are a few important things to consider when considering the cost of hiring a personal injury lawyer. Once you know all of the factors that go into the cost of a personal injury attorney, you can avoid surprises down the road. Learning about contingency fees is a great place to start.
Contingency Fees
A contingency fee agreement sets out a specific type of payment structure for the lawyer. This can help you hire a personal injury attorney without paying a large amount of money in advance or on an hourly basis. Instead of getting paid in advance or hourly, the lawyer agrees to start working without taking payment. In return, the client agrees to give the attorney a percentage of their settlement or court award as payment.
There are benefits and disadvantages to the contingency fee structure. The downside is that contingency fee arrangements often end up being 33% to 40% of the client’s settlement. When personal injury lawyers win large settlements, they often make much more than they would if they were paid on an hourly fee arrangement for legal services.
This type of agreement can still be great for the client, though. The biggest benefit is that the lawyer is taking all the risk, which is why contingency fees are so high. The client only has to pay the contingency fee if they can win a settlement. This way, you don’t have to worry about paying a high hourly rate and never have to pay your contingency fee if you do not win a settlement.
The contingency fee often comes out of the settlement after costs have been subtracted instead of out of the total payment. For example, imagine a personal injury lawyer wins a $100,000 settlement after spending $5,000 on litigation costs. That leaves $95,000, and the attorney takes a contingency fee out of the $95,000.
The decision to pay a lawyer a contingency fee comes down to how much more money you can expect to receive if you have an attorney on your side. Why pay a contingency fee if you can receive the same settlement from an insurance company without an attorney? On the other hand, if you believe you should receive much more compensation, it might be worth paying a personal injury attorney on a contingency fee basis to get all the money you deserve.
Schedule a consultation with a personal injury attorney, and they will be able to walk you through the contingency fee agreement and explain how it works. They might even review some examples with you to ensure you know what to expect from potential settlements. The good news here is that a personal injury lawyer is only motivated to work on a contingency fee percentage if it is likely that they can help you win a large settlement.
Court Costs and Other Expenses
In the legal community, the word “costs” does not cover the fees you pay a personal injury attorney. Costs have more to do with the other expenses in your case:
- The costs the lawyer’s office pays while investigating your case
- The cost of the lawyer’s office managing settlement negotiations
- The cost of expert witness fees and recording depositions if the case advances past early negotiations toward an entire lawsuit
- Court costs and other expenses, such as the cost of filing a personal injury lawsuit
Depending on the agreement, the client is responsible for repaying the lawyer to cover these litigation expenses. Usually, the payment comes out of the settlement.
Receive and Read Your Contingent Fee Agreement
We recommend that you always get your fee and expenses agreement in writing. Putting agreements in writing prevents confusion or disagreement later, which helps protect you and the attorney. You can refer to your written agreement if you disagree about how much everyone should get from the settlement. This written agreement should cover everything, including contingency fees as well as costs.
Relation Between Costs and Lawyer Fees
We recommend you understand whether the lawyer’s fees are calculated before or after costs are taken from the total settlement check. You will save money if the lawyer subtracts costs before collecting the contingency fee. If the lawyer takes the contingency fee first, the costs are all coming from the client’s portion of the settlement. You will get more money if you ensure the costs come from the total financial compensation before your personal injury lawyer’s fees.
Costs You Agree on in Advance
The costs in a personal injury case are often fairly standard. Your initial written agreement with a lawyer is likely to outline what the costs might be, especially costs that are unavoidable. Examples of unavoidable expenses include phone calls, copying, and court filing fees. Other costs may or may not be avoidable.
Sometimes additional costs can come up depending on how far the case goes and how everything else develops. For example, imagine you were injured because your automobile malfunctioned and caused a crash. If this case goes to trial, your attorney might hire any number of experts for a variety of purposes:
- Your attorney might hire a forensic scientist who can collect and analyze evidence from the scene of your accident to determine precisely what happened.
- The personal injury lawyer might hire an automotive expert who can speak to how your vehicle performed compared to how it was expected to perform.
- Your lawyer might rely on expert testimony from a doctor or specialists who can provide detail about the injuries, pain, and suffering you have experienced or will continue to experience as a result of the accident.
Hiring experts can help the court determine who is at fault, as well as the severity of the damages. This information ultimately affects the size of the settlement.
Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer at Catania & Catania for Personal Injury Law Needs
Now that you know how the cost of a personal injury lawyer is determined, you can hire a personal injury law firm with confidence. Our Catania & Catania Injury Lawyers team is ready to stand beside you and help you win the settlement you deserve. Our family-run law firm knows how hard insurance companies can make it for you, and we know what it takes to fight back.
We’re local to Tampa, Florida, and have spent 30 years earning a reputation as the area’s most respected accident experts. We’re always available when you need us, so reach out today!
Image Credit: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock
