Episode #12: What the heck is a contingency fee? - Stewart J. Guss, Attorney At Law

this episode of the B
e
king Do
n The L

Podc
st <
i>
e'
e joined by Ste
t J. Guss,
<
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ef=”https://c

inju
yvictims.com
ou
-te
m/ste
t-guss
“>pe
son
l inju
y lye
in Houston >
ho speci
lizes in c
ccidents
esulting in inju
y. He’s joined by B
e
king Do
n The L Podc
st host,
shley
od
iguez. Du
ing tod
y’s episode,
e’ll be le

ning ex
ctly
h
t
<
h
ef=”https://c

inju
yvictims.com
l

ye
-contingency-fee-
ve

ge/”>contingency fee > is?
hile it might seem st

ightfo

d, m
ny d
ive
s don’t
e
lize you c
n often get
lye
fo
f
ee
ith no oblig
tion.

The fi
st question you
l

ys
sk
l

ye
is ho
much is this going to cost me? Nothing upf
ont fo pe
son
l inju
y l

ye
,
e
ill
o
k
nd neve
chge you unless
e m
ke ecove
y. Some l

ye
s ho
eve
do chge upf
ont.

hy should I give
y some of my
ecove
y
hen I c
n just h
ndle it by myself?
e
o
k to get you
h
t you’
e
ctu
lly entitled to not
h
t they e going to offe
. One thing
good pe
son
l inju
y l

ye

ill do fo

client besides getting the most f
om the insunce,
e
ill
lso negoti
te
ll of you
medic
l bills.

Some docto
s
on’t even see you if you
e
e in
c
ccident but sometimes
e c
n offe
you
LOP so you don’t h
ve to p
y
nything upf
ont fo
you
medic
l bills.<
li>

Ou
clients e
l

ys fi
st,
e tell you
h
t you
options e
nd let you
sk
ll of you
questions
nd suppo
t you
decision on you
c
se

Ste
t discusses these points
nd so m
ny mo
e, so
e hope you’ll join us fo
this episode!

St
y tuned fo
the next inst
llment of the B
e
king Do
n The L

Podc
st <
i>
ith Ste
t J Guss
nd
shley
od
iguez!

Cont
ct Us: 281-783-3934 o
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e
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Int
o : 0:09 B
e
king do
n the l
podc
st hosted by
tto
neys
nd leg
l speci
lists discussing eve
yd
y l
nd ho
it
ffects
egul people,
egul

people. Let’s b
e
k do
n the l
ith ou
host, Stut Gus
nd
shley
od
iguez. They h
ve the inside scoop on eve
ything leg
l
nd ne
s
o
thy.
shley
od
iguez : 0:34
elcome to b
e
king do
n the l. Tod
y
e'
e going to t
lk
bout contingency fees.
h
t’s the contingency fee, Ste
t, Ste
t J Guss : 0:41

Contingency fee me
ns th
t if you need
g
e
t lye
, you c
n
ffo
d to hi
e one. Bec
use unde contingency fee system, you don't p
y
nything unless
nd until you
lyeins you
c
se.
nd th
t's the y
e h
ndle like 99.9% of ou
c
ses. Inte
estingly, it’s funny bec
use you kno
, I’ve been doing this fo
25 yes.
nd I
lys
ssume th
t people kno
th
t th
t’s the c
se th
t th
t ou
Consult
tions e f
ee.
nd you don't p
y
nything unless
nd until
e
in
nd
ecove
money. Do you kno
th
t th
t’s
ctu
lly the most common question th
t
e get f
om ne
clients th
t e th
t

e
e
ching out to us
nd nt to t
lk to us
bout
n inju
y
ccident c
se?
shley
od
iguez : 1:29

I bet bec
use they'
e thinking I just got my c

to
ed. I gott
p
y fo
Ube
, I got medic
l bills, I’m t
king time off f
om
o
k,
nd I just c
n’t
ffo
d
lye
. Bec
use mostly,
hen you he

the
o
d l

ye
, you think, oh, th
t’s gonn
cost Ste
t J Guss : 1:39

me
lot money. Ye
h, ye
h. Ye
h, ye
h, it fo
ce
t
in types of l

, it’s t
ue, you kno
, l

ye
ce
t
inly c
n be expensive.
nd if you need
f
mily lye
fo

divo
ce o
child suppo
t, o
if you need
c
imin
l defense lye
fo

t

ffic ticket, o
something, you've got to p
y up f
ont,
nd the
e's no gu
ntee, you kno
th
t they’
e going to do
ny good, you p
id you
money. The be
utiful pt
bout
contingency fee ngement is th
t, you kno
,
e’ll t
lk to you fo
f
ee,
e’ll investig
te you
c
se fo
f
ee.
nd mo
e th
n th
t,
e
ill fight you
c
se to the ends of the eth,
ithout ch

ging you
dime. Unless
nd until
e m
ke

ecove
y.
nd
e've h
ndled, I think, p
ob
bly 10s of thous
nds of c
ses
t ou
fi
m. Eve
y once in

hile bec
use of ci
cumst
nces beyond ou
cont
ol,
e might find on
c
se fo

ye

o
t
o o
even longe
.
nd
t the end of the d
y, you kno
, m
ybe
defend
nt goes out of business decles b
nk
uptcy on insunce comp
ny becomes insolvent, o
something else.
nd even though
e've put in
ll th
t time,
nd
ll th
t effo
t,
nd you kno
, sometimes hund
eds of hou
s of ou
time, if
e don't m
ke

ecove
y fo
ou
client, you knoe nt to do is
e

nt to sh
ke ou
clients
nd th
nk them fo
the oppo
tunity to
ep
esent them. M
ke su
e th
t they unde
st
nd th
t
e did eve
ything
e could
nd then
t the end of the d
y, they don’t p
y us
penny.
nd hopefully
e

lk
y f
iends.
shley
od
iguez : 3:08
o
, th
t
lmost sounds too good to be t
ue. So
h
t
bout fees? e they
e
lly
o
th it? Like my insunce comp
ny? Isn’t the
e going to be fees?
h
t's the settlement diffe
ence?

Ste
t J Guss : 3:19 Ye
h, so th
t's the thing, you kno
, bec
use people don't nt to, you kno
, they’
e like, you he people
ll the time, but like,
hy should I give
l

ye
, you kno
, p

t of my
ecove
y? Isn’t th
t just going to t
ke money off of my t
ble? Let me give you
n ex
mple. So fo
ex
mple, let's s
y someone comes to us, they

nt to hi
e us.
nd let’s s
y they've got, you kno
, they
ent to the eme
gency
oom
nd bet
een cop
ys
nd eve
ything else,
nd let's s
y they’ve got $15,000 in medic
l bills,
ell, m
ybe thei
insu

nce comp
ny is only offe
ing them 12,000.
nd then if they nt to hi
e us,
nd let's s
y
e chge one thi
d,
ell, th
t me
ns th
t they’
e going to lose 4000 of th
t $12,000, they’ll h
ve even less money to p
y bills. So th
t's
h
t
lot of people think. But he
e's the de
l. The
e's
lot th
t goes into th
t equ
tion th
t people don’t
e
lize,
hich is numbe
one, the biggest p

t of ou
job is to m
ke su
e th
t
e'
e getting you
h
t you’
e entitled to. So just bec
use the insu

nce comp
ny h
s offe
ed 12,000 bucks, th
t does me
n th
t th
t's
ll you’
e going to get
nd th
t's the end of the sto
y, t
ke it o
le
ve it. It's ou
job to go to
o
k like
dog
fte

bone, like insu

nce comp
ny. You kno
,
e'
e going to t
y
nd get you mo
e th
n 12,000.
e'
e going to t
y
nd get you 20,000 o
30,000 o
40,000 o
100,000.
shley
od
iguez : 4:41

the negoti
tion p
ocess
ight
nd you’ve been doing this.

Ste
t J Guss : 4:45 It's
negoti
tion p
ocess. But he
e's the de
l,
shley goshi
tion is b
e
k do
n.
e’ll go to cou
t
nd
e'll fight fo
you

ights. But th
t's only pt of bec
use
h
t
lot of people don't
e
lize is th
t one of the things th
t
good pe
son
l inju
y lyeill do fo client, in
ddition to t
ying to get the most they possibly c
n, out of the insu

nce comp
ny. The othe
thing th
t
e do is
e e going to negoti
te on those medic
l bills
nd
ny othe
outst
nding, you kno
, m
ybe you
post
ge, to get b
ck to m
y h
ve something c
lled
sub
og
tion,
e'
e going to t
y
nd negoti
te do
n
nything th
t h
s to come out of th
t
ecove
y. So
h
t
lot of people don't
e
lize is th
t
e'
e
o
king both sides of the equ
tion fo
ou
clients. Not only e
e t
ying to coves much money
s
e c
n fo
them coming in, but
nything th
t h
s to be p
id out,
e’
e
lso negoti
ting to t
y
nd get th
t do
n. Si
, coming
nd going, eve
ything
e do is designed to put the m
ximum
mount of net c
sh
ecove
y into ou
clients pocket.
shley
od
iguez : 5:50

Ye
h, th
t is me. No
,
lot of medic
l comp
nies, they kno
if they'
e gonn
get th
t money up f
ont, they
ill negoti
te do
n bec
use then they don't h
ve to

it fo
it. Ste
t J Guss : 5:58

Ye
h,
nd th
t's
nothe
thing th
t people don’t
e
lize not necess

ily
el
ted to contingency fee. But
lot of the times docto
s
on't even see you, if they kno
th
t you've been in
c

eck. So one of the things th
t
e could do,
e'
e
illing to offe
h
t's kno
n
s
lette
of p
otection so th
t sometimes ou
clients
e
e
ble to get the medic
l t
e
tment they need, not only
ithout p
ying us up f
ont, but even
ithout p
ying thei
medic
l p
ovide
s up f
ont. It’s not 100% of the time, you kno
,
nd
e c
n’t gu
ntee it, but th
t’s one of the things th
t
e’
e
ble to do ve
y, ve
y often
nd it m
kes life much much e
sie
fo
someone
ho’s been in
e
d.
shley
od
iguez : 6:35 Oh, ye
h, cuz you’
e going th
ough so much like you
lys s
y, like, no one

kes up in the mo
ning pl
nning to get in the c

.

Ste
t J Guss : 6:40
ight? Ex
ctly. You ke up in the mo
ning pl
nning to put on you
p
nts get don't ke up in the mo
ning pl
nning to get into
c

. So p
nts, no p
oblem. Fi
st ski
t, I kno
it's you
p
nts, o
ski
t o
shoes, no p
oblem.
e got this. But
c
pp comes out of no
he
e, like
piece of Skyl
b f
lling out of the sky.
nd by the

y, unless you’
e old like I
m, you h
ve no ideh
t I’m t
lking
bout. So Google, YouTube.
shley
od
iguez : 7:14
nd th
t is
h
t Ste
t sounds like
hen he's gonn
settle you
c
se.

Ste
t J Guss : 7:20 Don't
o

y, don’t
oy,
e’
e h
ving fun on the othe
podc
st.
nd I love h
ving fun
ith you.
nd I love h
ving fun. My clients. T
ust me,
hen
e go to cou
t,
ll of us kno
ho
to put on ou

f
ce. But not no
not on the podc
st. I'm just I'm just t
ying to h
ve fun.
shley
od
iguez : 7:36

Definitely p
ofession
l
hen you h
ve to be but the
e's sometimes you just gott
h
ve fun. Ste
t J Guss : 7:41

Ex
ctly. So
ny othe
questions fo
me on contingency fees?
shley
od
iguez : 7:45 So b
sic
lly, ho
does it
o
k? Is the
e
ny ext

fees? In the end? I hi
e you on
contingency fee? you settle you
c
se?

e the
e ext fees? Ho
does it b
e
k do
n? Ste
t J Guss : 7:57

So let me tell you, gene

lly spe
king, let's s
y it’s
typic
l c
ccident c
se, gene

lly spe
king, you'
e going to find th
t the st
nd

d contingency fee is going to be one thi
d. Ok
y. So
h
teve
it is th
t
e'
e
ble to
ecove
f
om the insu

nce comp
ny, outto
neys fees

e going to be one thi
d of th
t
ecove
. No
, the
e

e
couple of f
cto
s th
t c
n ch
nge th
t
little bit. So fo
ex
mple,
nd
g
in, this is p
etty st
ndd,
e’
e going to do eve
ything
e c
n to t
y
nd get you
c
se settled
client's c
se settled on te
ms th
t

e pe
fectly
ccept
ble to the client.
nd
emembe
, it’s the client’s decision, not ou
s,
e’
e going to t
y
nd get th
t c
se settled
ithout h
ving to file
l

suit, th
t p
ob
bly h
ppens, I’d s
y
bout 75 to 80% of the time. But once
e do file
l

suit, the
mount of time
nd effo
t
nd suppo
t st
ff th
t
e need to invest in
c
se goes up subst
nti
lly. So typic
lly, outto
neys fees go
t th
t point f
om one thi
d to 40%. If
e h
ve to file
lsuit,
nd it’s impo
t
nt to m
ke th
t distinction, not if
e go to t
y, bec
use the thing people don't
e
lize is by the time
e
ctu
lly

lk into
cou
t
oom
nd go to t
i
l, 99.9% of the
o
k on the c
se h
s
l
e
dy been done. If
e file
lsuit, the fee goes f
om one thi
d to 40%. But
g
in, it doesn't h
ppen in
v
cuum.
nd it's only going to h
ppen
hen ou
client tells us Yep, let’s do it. I’m ok
y
ith it. Go
he
d.
shley
od
iguez : 9:38 Ye
h. So you p
esent to them
h
t the offe
is,
nd you s
y this is the offe
. Do you t
ke it o
not?
ould you like us to file
lsuit
nd go f
om the
e?

Ste
t J Guss : 9:47 Ye
h, ex
ctly.
nd it’s
ctu
lly mo
e involved in th
t p
ocess th
t
e do
hen
e t
lk to ou
clients,
ight,
e
lly the

y th
t I look
t my job
nd the y th
t my
tto
neys look
t thei
job in de
ling
ith ou
Clients is ou
job is to give you info
m
tion
nd options
bout
h
t ou
clients nt to do,
ight? Yes. So do you

nt to settle? O
do you nt to file
l

suit? He
e e the p
os, he
e e the cons.
nd
t th
t point,
e encouge ou
client to
sk
s m
ny questions
s they need to. But ultim
tely,
nd
e'll
ns
e
, I’ve spent t
o hou
s in
confe
ence
ith
client befo
e going ove
the p
os
nd cons.
nd you got to
emembe
,
e
o
k fo
ou
clients, they’
e the boss, not
client fi
st,
l

ys,
bsolutely.
nd p

t of ou
job,
e
lly, the most impo
t
nt pt of ou
job is to keep ou
clients info
med.
nd
hen they do m
ke
decision
bout thei
c
se,
e
e
lly

nt it to be
n info
med decision th
t they eventu
lly m
ke.
shley
od
iguez : 10:44

Ye
h,
nd they feel comfo
t
ble
bout the decision, bec
use they’ve he

d
ll of the info
m
tion. Ste
t J Guss : 10:49

Ex
ctly.
nd they’
e empo
e
ed, they'
e empo
e
ed to t
ke the c
se in
h
teve
di
ection they see fit.
e
sked them to listen to ou

dvice.
nd
e’ll give he

dvice, bec
use th
t’s p

t of ou
job.
nd ultim
tely,
s I’ve s
id befo
e,
s
l

ye
,
hen my client tells me to jump, I
sked ho
high. So the
e
e
e
couple of othe
things
bout contingency fee, so th
t I nted to mention
nd expenses. The
e e some othe
issues, the
e e ce
t
in types of c
ses
he
e contingency fees m
y be
couple of pe
cent
ge points highe
.
nd th
t is bec
use fo
ex
mple, it might be
type of c
se th
t's unusu
lly difficult to
in. Fo
ex
mple, p
emises li
bility c
ses, often t
ke
lot of
o
k
nd h
ve
lot mo
e unce
t
inty th
n
moto
vehicle, B
ett, so but he
e's the thing
ith us.
nd
ith
ny legitim
te
tto
ney, you’
e going to kno
ex
ctly
h
t the fees e, befo
e you hi
e the lye
, the
e's not going to be
ny su
p
ises.
shley
od
iguez : 11:55 So b
sic
lly, if you e h
ving
consult
tion, though,
ith the lye
,
nd they'
e not
illing to put those fees up f
ont
nd t
lk to you
bout
ll of them
un the othe
y.

Ste
t J Guss : 12:04 Just like you h
d success th
t mo
ning, putting on you
p
nts o
you
ski
t. If you h
ve
lyend you'
e t
lking to
l

ye
,
nd they’
e not
illing to give
ll this info
m
tion to you up f
ont,
t th
t point, you st
nd up out of the ch
i
, you put you
h
t on you
he
d, you tu
n

ound
nd you lk out the doo
, pe
iod, end of sto
y.
shley
od
iguez : 12:22 Ye
h, you should be
ble to t
ust you
lyend eve
ything should be upf
ont. Ste
t J Guss : 12:27

Ye
h, you kno
, one of the g
e
t things, one of the g
e
t joys th
t I've h
d in p

cticing pe
son
l inju
y l fo
25 ye

s, it’s p
etty common th
t ou
fi
m
ill be
et
ined by
client,
ho's h
d

e
lly b
d expe
ience
ith
pe
son
l inju
y l

ye
in the p
st.
nd they
sk
lot of questions.
nd they’
e ve
y cynic
l,
nd they’
e ve
y doubtful.
nd one of my g
e
t p
ofession
l joys in life is I tell those folks, you kno
,
hen
e meet
ith them, hey, look, I kno
th
t you don't t
ust me.
nd I don't bl
me you, bec
use you've been bu
ned befo
e.
h
t I'm
e
lly looking fod to is th
ee months, six months,
ye do
n the line,
hen this is
ll done.
nd you see hoell
e’ve t
ken ce of you,
nd ho
honest
e’ve been
ith you. I'm looking fod to ch
nging you
mind
bout l

ye
s.
nd
e
e get to do it
ll the time. It's teific.
shley
od
iguez : 13:23

So is the
e
nything in specific
potenti
l client should
sk
l

ye

bout contingency fees up f
ont? Ste
t J Guss : 13:31

Ye
h, so the contingency fee issue is
el
tively stightfod. One othe
thing I do like to mention,
nd it's impo
t
nt thing to go ove
is the thing
bout expenses. Ok
y? Oftentimes,
hen
e’
e
o
king on
c
se,
e’
e going to h
ve c
se expenses
s
e
ep
esent
client.
nd those c
se expenses might be
s little
s let’s s
y, $8, fo copy of
police
epo
t, o
those expenses might be hund
eds, o
in e
lly big m
ssive c
se, even thous
nds of dolls, pe
h
ps, fon expe
t
itness fon
ccident
econst
uctionist. No
, these e fees th
t ou
l fi
m is going to be p
ying fo
out of ou
pocket,
e

ite
check fo
them,
nd most lye
s

e going to

nt to get those expenses p
id b
ck
t the end of the c
se.
nd one of the things th
t I
e
lly u
ge people to
sk is,
m I going to be
esponsible fo
those c
ses expenses, even if
e don't
in my c
se. No
, ou
fi
m, it doesn’t m
tte
if
e've spent $100 $1,000 o
$5,000 o
mo
e in c
se expenses fo
us. If
e don't
in you
c
se,
e te up those
eceipts.
nd
g
in, you don't o
e us
dime in
tto
neys fees. You don't o
e us
dime fo
ou
c
se expenses.
e just nt to sh
ke h
nds
e

nt you to kno
th
t
e've done eve
ything
e could
nd
e lk
y f
om it. He kno
s m
ny yes l
te
. So
ith
ll pe
son
l inju
y l

ye
s, so th
t’s one tip I

nted to give eve
ybody
ho’s listening,
sk
bout ho
expenses e
shley
od
iguez : 15:14

ex
ctly. Most people, you
ould think, you kno
, if you don't
in my c
se, then I h
ve to p
y those expenses. O
m
ybe I'm even
esponsible fo
you
fee, bec
use the
o
k you did.
nd th
t's
h
t c
n m
ke people kind of hesit
te. Ok
y. Ste
t J Guss : 15:29

Ye
h.
nd th
t's
hy ou
leg
l system is designed to m
ke it
s e
sy
s possible fo
people to be
ble to hi
e e
lly high qu
lity expe
ienced pe
son
l inju
y lye
to
ep
esent them
ith
e
lly
bsolutely no
isk to them. So I guess if the
e’s
nything else I nt to
dd, o
if the
e’s
nything I nt to s
y, in conclusion, it’s this. Getting into
c
ccident is
ve
y complic
ted situ
tion. Setting
side the inju
ies th
t you've got,
nd the medic
l things th
t you’ve got going on, you
leg
l situ
tion is just
s complic
ted
nd just
s impo
t
nt. So
h
t I s
y to people is, look, if you
e
e in
c
ccident,
nd God fo
bid, the
e's the Je
ish mothe
,
nd m
y, God fo
bid, you b
oke you
m.
ould you Google? Ho
to fix you
o
n

m
nd t
y
nd do it on you
o
n to s
ve some money? O

ould you just get you
e into
docto

nd h
ve you
docto
t
e
t? Ok
y? It’s the s
me thing
ith the leg
l end of things. You might think you c
n h
ndle it on you
o
n, but I gu
ntee you those insu

nce comp
nies, they've done it thous
nds
nd thous
nds of times they’ve got one job one job only. Th
t's to p
y you
s little
s possible on you
cl
ims.
hethe
it’s me, my l

fi
m,
ny of my l

ye
s cou
t, the
e's plenty of g
e
t pe
son
l inju
y l

ye
s out the
e. If you’ve been hu
t,
nd it’s someone else’s f
ult. Don't Google it. Don't t
y to do it on you
o
n. hi
e
l

ye
unde contingency fee
ith no
isk. The best th
t c
n h
ppen is you get
g
e
t outcome. You get
good
ecove
y. The
o
st thing c
n h
ppen is like I s
id,
e sh
ke h
nds,
e lk
y f
iends.
shley
od
iguez : 17:09

Yes, ex
ctly. If you
e
e hu
t in
c
ccident, m
ke su
e you c
ll us just fo f
ee consult
tion
t Ste
t j Guss
t 281-783-3934.
nd
e’d love to just
ns
e

ll of you
questions. Ste
t J Guss : 17:24

Yep, no commitment, no cost fo
the consult
tion. If
e c
n help you g
e
t. If not, no p
oblem.
e’
e gl
d to just give you some info.
shley
od
iguez : 17:33 Th
nk you fo
listening to b
e
king do
n the l

.

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