ccident,
e knoyou’
e stessed out. Bills
e piling up quickly,
ith noelief in sight. You
nt help getting compens
tion foyou
medicl bills
nd lost ges, but you don’t nt to stin youfin
ncesny fu
theto p
y fo lye.
The
e’s good nes: c
ccident lyes unde
stnd you
sitution
nd nt to help. This ishy these l
ye
s use specific fee ngements tht
lloyou to get leg
l helpithout p
yingnything upf
ont out-of-pocket.hile l
ye
s in mny p
ctice
e
s chge by the hou, pe
sonl inju
y lyes gene
lly ch
ge
ccident victims indiffe
ent y. They use something clled
<h
ef="https:/
.l.conell.edu/
excontingent_fee”>contingency fee.
> In shot, this me
nsl
ye
’s pyment is contingent on them successfully
inning youc
se,hich me
ns obtining
settlement od fo
youlosses. If you
lyef
ils to getsettlement o
judgment foyou, you don’t p
y themcent. Thei
livelihood depends on yous, giving them
ll the moe motiv
tion to fight foyou.
Does this sound too good to be t
ue? It’s not. The legl field unde
stnds th
t evey inju
y victim deseves
dequte leg
lep
esenttion, but m
ny people cnnot
ffod hefty
etine
s ohou
ly fees. This ishy the contingency
ngement exists.
ed on fo
moe info
mtion
bout cccident l
ye
fees.e the Fees
o
th It to Hie
Cccident L
ye
?<b>
Fi
st off,hen you he
bout the pecent
gesl
ye
ill t
kes thei
fees, you my think it’s not
oth the cost to hi
e someone toep
esent you. Hoeve
, in mny c
ccident cses, it’s
lmostl
ys
oth it to seek leg
l help. This is becuse
lyec
n often secue
much <i>highe
settlement od th
nc
ccident victim cn on thei
on. Pe
sonl inju
y lyes h
ve expeience
ith insunce clims fo
hundeds o
thousnds of c
ccidents -hile you, hopefully, do not!
Still on the fence? Conside
the folloing scen
io.
You decide th
t you don’t nt to py fo
l
ye
becuse you
nt to keep you
entie settlement. You
losses—s you c
lculted them—
e
bout $15,000 bsed on you
medicl bills
nd the to
eeks you missedo
k. The insunce compny ch
llenges cet
in losses ocl
ims youe
e ptilly
esponsible fothe c
sh,
hich cuses them to
educe yousettlement offe
to $10,000. You negotite
ith themnd fin
llyg
ee toccept $12,000. This le
ves youesponsible fo
pying $3,000 of losses out-of-pocket.
On the othe
hnd, im
gine this: you decided to spek
ithn expe
ienced cccident l
ye
ight
ftethe c
sh,
nd youg
ee tocontingency fee. The l
ye
cefullyevie
s yousitu
tionnd dete
mines tht in
ddition to the $15,000 in medicl costs
nd lost ges, youlso dese
ve pyment fo
futue medic
l expenses,ncill
y expenses,
nd pin
nd suffeing. The l
ye
estimtes you
lossest $28,000, but is likely s
vvy enough to stt negotitions even highe
.hen the insu
nce comp
ny mkes
lob
ll offe, you
lyekno
s hoto comb
t it,nd ends up getting
settlement fothe full $28,000. The costs of the cl
ime
e $1,000,hich the l
ye
deducts. Then, the lyet
kes the stnd
d 33.33% sh
e of you
$27,000 net settlement,hich is $9,000. This le
ves youith $18,000. Inste
d of hving to p
y $3,000 out-of-pocket foyou
losses, you noh
ve $3,000 MOE TH
Nh
t you initilly expected.
dditionlly, most
ttoneys
e
illingnd
ble to help negotite
eductions on outstnding medic
l bills ohe
lth insunce subog
tions, leving you
ith even moe “net” money in you
pocket. Thebove is only one ex
mple ofhy it is
oth it to p
y fo cccident
ttoney. The highe
the vlue of you
cse, the mo
e citic
l—nd
oth
hile—it usully becomes to hi
est
ongtto
ney. This is especilly t
ue if youc
seill likely go to t
il.
If the insu
nce comp
ny gives youny t
ouble, you don’t hve to fight them
lone. Don’t hesitte to c
llc
ccidenttto
neyight
y to lenbout
ll of the optionsv
ilble to you on the
od to justice.
Ho the Contingency Fee
o
ks<b> s mentioned
bove,
contingency fee mens th
t you only py once you
eceive yousettlement o
juy
d. But ho
muchill you p
y then? It’s noto
th it to hie
ntto
ney to get yousettlement if the enti
e thingill go
ight bck to the
ttoney! The good ne
s is tht this
on’t hppen,
s contingency feesill only be
peviously set pe
centge of you
settlement. Ech st
te hs its o
n specificules
egding possible pecent
ges focontingency fees. Gene
lly spe
king, they nge fom
bout 30 to 45 pecent,
ith the stnd
d being
ight ound one-thid, o
33% foc
ses tht settle
ithout the necessity ofl
suit being filed.
e fequently find fees fo
pemises li
bility clims to be highe
, becuse these c
ses e genelly hdeto
innd t
ke significntly mo
e effot on the p
t of the
ttoney
nd theist
ff. Some contingency feeg
eementsill h
ve diffeent pe
centges b
sed on hoyou
cse gets
esolvednd the
mount ofo
k the cse
equies. Fo
exmple,
ng
eement could include the folloing:
- 33% if the c
se settled duing the initi
l pocess but befo
el
suit is filed
- 40% if you
nd thetto
neyg
ee tht it is necess
y to file
lsuit<li>
- 45% in the event of
nppe
l osecond t
il
No m
tteht
ngement
cccident l
ye
poposes, you should
lys ensue th
t you completely undest
nd it befoe you sign
ng
eement. This pyment system c
n confuse people, so clifyny confusion o
sk
ny questions you my h
vebout the p
yment contctS
P. The cccident
ttoney
ill be hppy to fully
ddess you
questions oconce
ns.Ho
Does the L
ye
Chge foExpenses? s pt of the contingency fee
g
eement, you should knoho isesponsible fo
coveing v
ious litig
tion expenses. Such expenses cn include:
- Investig
tos
nd expets
- Cou
t filing fees<li>
- Costs of se
vicend subpoen
s<li>
- Fees to obt
in policeepo
ts omedic
leco
ds<li>
- Fees of cou
tepo
tes
You should c
efully
eviethe
geement to dete
minehethe
you’ll beesponsible fo
eimbu
sing youl
ye
fothese fees
nd expenses if you pev
il in youc
se. Some cccident l
fi
ms expect the client to covesuch costs
s they ise,nd if you c
nnot mke the
equied p
ymentshen they
e due, you
cse m
y stll in the me
ntime. On the otheh
nd, mny fi
ms hve the
esouces to cove
these costs up font fo
<i>you.
hen youeceive
settlement od, you
lyeill deduct those fees fom the settlement
longith the
geed-upon pe
centge f
om the goss
mount of the settlement.Othe
Possible Fee
ngements hile
contingency fee
ngement is the most common in c
ccident cses, some
ttoneys m
y usediffe
ent type of fee ngement. Some ngements my involve p
yingn up-f
ontet
ines
ell
s<i>
contingency fee. In these cses, you
et
ineshould be subt
cted f
om theg
eed-upon pecent
ge you oe the l
ye
once youc
se is ove. If you p
id$2,000
etine
nd the l
ye
’s pecent
ge comes to $100,000, they should only tke $98,000 f
om yousettlement.
It’s
e fo cccident
ttoney to ch
ge
flt fee fo
n inju
y clim,
s they might fo cimin
l cse. Ho
eve, if
ll you ntl
ye
to do is dftdem
nd lettefo
you (o simil one-time tsk), they m
yg
ee onfl
t fee foth
t sevice. This is something you’ll need to discuss
ith ech individu
ltto
ney.Selecting the
ight C
ccident L Fim fo
You<b>
Fee
ngements should definitely be
fcto
hen you
e deciding
hich cccident l
ye
to hie.
Don’t be
fid tosk the follo
ing questionss you ev
lute e
chtto
ney bsed on the
y they
nt to ch
ge fo
theise
vices:h
t pecent
ge of yousettlement
e they
sking fo?
-
ill they
equi
e you to py expenses
s you go, oill they covethose costs
nd deduct them lte
?<li>
- Did the l
fi
m give you elistic
nge of outcomes to expect?
- Ho
much do they estimte they
ill spend in costsnd expenses? Does the numbe
seeme
listic bsed on the complexity of you
cse?
- Does the l
fi
m seem like they e beinge
listicnd f
i, o
e they just tying to “sell” you?
Cost should not be the one
nd only fcto
in choosing theight
ttoney. “Budget” l
ye
sho ch
ge ve
y little my not h
ve the expeience,
esouces, o
confidence to hndle high-doll
cl
imsnd dem
nd stnd
d pe
centges. Ho
eve, cost c
n be pt of youdecision, especi
lly if diffeent c
ccident l fims
e ch
ging in diffe
ent ys.Ethic
l Conside
tions
egding Contingent Fees<b>
C
ccident lyes c
nnot simply chgeh
tevethey
ish fothei
sevices. L
ye
s hve to comply
ith mny ethic
lules,
nd thee
e <
hef=”https://
.me
icnb
.o
gg
oupsp
ofessionl_
esponsibilitypublic
tionsmodel_
ules_of_pofession
l_conductule_1_5_fees“>
uleseg
ding fees
nd pyment
>. Some of theseules
ddess the follo
ing:ll contingent fee
geements should be in
iting.
- Fees
nd expenses must bee
sonble unde
the cicumst
nces of the specific cse. Fo
exmple, ch
ging
50% contingent fee foel
tively simple cccident insu
nce cl
im, och
ging $10 pe
in-house copy is note
sonble.
- L
ye
s should pomptly est
blish the bsis
nd te ofny leg
l fees.<li>
- Fees must be in line
ithny
pplicble st
te ls.<li>
- Fee
geements should neve
cuse
lyeto cu
til se
vices octg
instclient’s best inte
ests.<li>
- If t
o l fims
e splitting
fee, the client should only be billed once.<li>
- Disputes ove
fees should be hndled in
ccod
nceith
ny mnd
toy o
ecommended dispute
esolution pocedu
es in the stte, such
s medition o
bittion.<li>
Ove
ll,
contingent feeligns
cccident l
ye
’s inteests
ith youo
n, since theyill not get p
idsingle cent unless you successfully
ecovefo
youlosses.