How Much Should You Expect to Pay to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

The best lawyers can’t afford to work for free. After investing seven years in higher education and many more years in practice to gain experience, with additional resources allocated to hiring experts and support staff, the lawyers who operate successful practices need to charge fees just to cover basic expenses. In addition, of course, they need to pay for their own housing, food, and other living costs.

So, if you’ve been hurt and you’re out of work and have no money for legal fees, how can you possibly afford to hire a lawyer? The answer is that personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. 

Here we explain how the payment system works, what you should expect to pay, and when you can expect the bill to come due. In this blog, the information we’re providing is general and applies to a broad range of situations. If you contact us for a free consultation, we can provide more specific information about the fees likely to apply in your case.

Fees are Contingent on Results

When a lawyer works on a contingency fee basis, the fees they charge are contingent on the results they achieve. If they don’t recover compensation for the client, the client owes no legal fees. 

However, it is important to be aware that even if there are no legal fees, the lawyer may charge an amount to recover the funds expended on certain expenses, such as court costs. Before agreeing to hire an attorney, it is important to discuss the costs you will be expected to cover and whether you will be required to pay for those costs even if you don’t receive compensation for your claim.

There are several beneficial features to the contingency fee system. First, clients do not need to pay any fees up front or during the case. This allows you to pursue legal justice right away after your injuries, even if you’re unable to earn income.

Another benefit, from our firm’s perspective at least, is that the system provides an incentive for your lawyer to work as hard as possible on your case. A contingency fee is based on a percentage of the amount recovered for the client. So the lawyer will receive a higher fee if they recover more for the client.  

Some law firms don’t see the situation that way. They try to make money by processing a large number of cases as quickly as possible. We established our own firm because we didn’t want to take that factory-like approach to injury law. Instead, we wanted to focus on delving into the details of each case to achieve the maximum recovery for each client.

You Should Understand the Fees Up Front

As mentioned above, you need to be aware of the costs that you will be expected to cover. You should also understand the fee that will be charged. It will be deducted from your recovery. The insurance company will submit payment to your legal team. They will deduct costs and legal fees, then pay the remainder to you.

Before you sign an agreement to work with a personal injury lawyer, be sure you understand:

• What percentage will the lawyer charge
• Whether the percentage charged will increase if the case goes to trial
• How long will the law firm take to process your payment after receiving payment from the insurance company

Typically, personal injury lawyers charge about 33% (1/3) of your recovery if the case settles before going to a full trial. If it is necessary to try the case in court, the fee percentage often increases to 40% due to the additional time involved.

These percentages sound high. But it is important to understand how much effort the best attorneys put into a case, and how much more compensation clients receive with an attorney’s assistance than they typically receive when settling a case on their own. 

Insurance companies have teams of experienced defense attorneys fighting to pay as little as possible, and they use strategies that shift liability onto the accident victim or trick the victim into accepting an amount that is not even enough to cover medical bills. They will try to convince you that you don’t need to pay a lawyer at all. But they’re not trying to save you money by saying that—they’re trying to save money for their shareholders.

Work with an Attorney Who is Willing to Discuss the Money Ahead of Time

You deserve to understand your fee obligations in advance. If you talk to a lawyer who brushes off your concerns or just says the fees are “standard,” then that lawyer may not be willing to invest appropriate amounts of time working for the results you deserve.

At DeKeyzer Law, we know the money issues matter. We work to explain everything in plain English, and we want you to ask questions so that you understand everything up front. Because we have experience working for defense teams, we can explain the difference between the initial settlement offered by the insurance company and what is likely to be offered after a dedicated personal injury lawyer demonstrates they have the evidence to establish liability and succeed in court. We always work to be ready for trial, even though most cases settle before then.

Schedule a Free Consultation to Learn More About How Legal Fees and Recovery Could Work in Your Case

You can talk to a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer at DeKeyzer Law without any obligation or any cost. Just call us to set up a convenient time to discuss your concerns. Or contact us online. We handle a wide range of cases, from car, truck, and motorcycle accidents to railroad and other workplace accidents, slip-and-fall cases, and other premises liability situations. If we are not the right firm for your situation, we will try to point you toward the resources you need. To get started, call us at 713-904-4004 or contact us online now.