Attorneys can charge for their legal services in many different ways. One common fee arrangement that personal injury lawyers use is the contingency-fee arrangement. Here are the ins and outs of this type of fee arrangement.
How Contingency Fee Works
Contingency fees condition the payment for an attorney’s services on the outcome of the case. The client does not pay for the lawyer’s services until the end of the case. The attorney charges a percentage of the winnings, which is outlined in the contingency-fee arrangement. If the recovery is $0, the attorney’s fee is $0 because any percentage times zero is zero.
The lawyer receives payment if they help settle the case or obtain a court verdict. The attorney then deducts their attorney’s fee from the proceeds before transferring any remaining amounts, less legal costs and outstanding liens, to the client.
Benefits of Contingency Fees
Accident victims stand to benefit from contingency-fee arrangements in many ways, including:
- They don’t have to pay an expensive retainer or other upfront fees that they were not expecting to incur.
- They don’t have to worry about paying their attorney expensive legal fees that they cannot afford.
- They won’t waste their time since the attorney won’t want to invest their time in an unwinnable case.
- They can get legal services right away without having to pay for them upfront.
- They avoid risk since they don’t have to pay for attorney fees unless their attorney is successful with their case.
- Their interests align with their lawyer’s since the higher their award, the higher the attorney’s stake in the case.
Legal Costs
In addition to attorney fees, personal injury clients are generally responsible for paying the legal costs associated with their claim. Examples of additional legal expenses that may be involved in your case include:
- Accident report retrieval fees
- Medical record copying fees
- Copy fees
- Postage
- Court filing fees
- Deposition and court reporter fees
- Investigative costs
- Expert witness fees
Attorneys handle these legal costs differently. Some lawyers may pay for these types of costs upfront and then deduct them from the settlement proceeds. Others charge the client upfront. Some personal injury lawyers may take the costs out after deducting their contingency fee, while others charge for these costs before calculating their contingency fee. How these costs are handled can affect your net proceeds, so it is important that you understand how and when your lawyer charges for them.
Your contingency fee agreement should be in writing. Make sure that you understand how to handle these costs and whether you will be responsible for these costs if your attorney does not win your claim.
Contact Us to Learn More About Our Contingency Fee Arrangements
If you would like to learn more about how the contingency fee arrangements at the law firm of Aronberg, Kouser, Snyder & Lindemann, P.A. work, contact us today. We can discuss our transparent fee arrangements and answer any questions that you have.
