When you suffer an injury due to someone else’s negligence, hire a personal injury lawyer. Not only can they guide you through the legal process, but they can also increase your chances of receiving fair compensation for your injuries.
However, one common concern people have when considering hiring a personal injury lawyer is the cost.
You will face several financial challenges when an accident injures you. Even if you have health insurance covering medical costs in the interim, you must make copayments for surgical procedures and prescriptions.
At the same time, your accident injuries may prevent you from working or mean that you need to take unpaid time off from your job.
Given your financial challenges, you may have concerns about how you will afford a lawyer.
The good news is that you should have no such worries in a personal injury case. A personal injury lawyer may not work for you for free, but they will not receive any money for the time they devote to your case unless you get paid for your injuries.
This makes it easy for you to get the legal help you need when you have suffered an injury in an accident.
From the time you first speak to a lawyer until the end of your case, you will not have to pay a personal injury attorney anything out of your own pocket. This arrangement also allows you to focus on your recovery while your personal injury attorney handles all of the aspects of your case.
If you have yet to take the necessary steps to secure the legal help that you need in your personal injury case, now is the time to do so. Insurance companies may try to take advantage of you without legal representation and weaken your claim.
As soon as you hire a personal injury attorney to represent you, they can work to establish your legal right to compensation and protect it from the insurance company. They understand the tactics insurance adjusters use to undervalue or deny your claim.
With their experience, they can prepare a strong case on your behalf and negotiate for the maximum compensation you deserve.
An Initial Consultation With a Personal Injury Attorney Is Always Free
The first encounter that you have with a personal injury attorney is always going to be free, no matter the result of the conversation. You will choose to hire a personal injury lawyer by scheduling a free initial consultation.
Here, you and the personal injury lawyer will learn more about each other, and you will come to understand if you want to hire them to handle your case.
At the same time, the lawyer will learn more about you and your case and decide if they will work with you. Even if you choose not to hire them, you will never pay anything for the free initial consultation.
A personal injury attorney always wants to speak with you during an initial consultation because they want you to consider hiring them for your case. They offer you this time as a free courtesy because it is their way of getting to know you and selling their services.
Personal Injury Lawyers Do Not Bill You By the Hour
Cost may concern you when you seek to hire a lawyer. For example, if law enforcement has charged you with a crime or you need help from a family law attorney, you must come up with money upfront to secure legal representation.
You need the funds to afford these types of lawyers because you will receive bills during the pendency of your case, depending on how much time your attorney is spending on your matter. You will have no cost certainty because the lawyer may give you a non-binding estimate, which you can quickly exceed if your case grows more complex.
These impressions may color your feelings about hiring a lawyer in your personal injury case. However, the reality of how the system works eliminates these fears when seeking help in an injury claim.
The law includes statutes and public policy behind how things work when dealing with any matter involving the legal system. Your lawyer knows you must deal with a difficult financial situation when an accident injures you.
It also understands that you may not want to invest money in hiring a personal injury attorney when there is an uncertain chance of success in your case. Thankfully, you do not have to spend any money upfront to get the help you need from a personal injury lawyer.
You Only Need to Commit to Paying Your Personal Injury Lawyer When You Win
You need to make only one commitment when hiring a personal injury attorney, which does not include writing a check upfront. The personal injury lawyer will not ask you for any money when you hire them for your case.
Instead, they will ask you to sign a formal representation agreement, making them your personal injury attorney in your case.
A representation is a binding agreement between you and the personal injury lawyer, which states the terms of their representation. Since the document is a contract, it is subject to the state’s laws where your attorney represents you. There are several terms in the representation agreement that both you and the attorney must follow.
One of the key areas of the representation agreement involves how the attorney will get paid for their time and services. Unlike representation agreements in other areas of law, a personal injury attorney does not receive their compensation in dollars per hour.
Instead, their compensation is a percentage figure. Specifically, the percentage is how much of the proceeds of your case they will receive should you win.
A personal injury lawyer only gets paid if you receive compensation, and the representation memorializes the contingency fee that applies to your case. The contingency fee system means the personal injury attorney’s fee is contingent on a particular event.
Here, that event is that you win your case by either receiving a settlement check or a jury ordering the defendant to pay money. That is the only thing that triggers your obligation to pay the personal injury lawyer.
You Pay a Percentage of the Proceeds of Your Case When You Receive the Money
The representation agreement will specify two percentages the personal injury lawyer will receive if you win your case. The first is the percentage they get if your case reaches a settlement agreement without needing a trial.
It does not matter how long it takes to settle your case or how much work the personal injury attorney puts in before your case ends in an agreement. It may take months or even years, and the personal injury lawyer will get paid the same amount.
The representation agreement may specify a slightly higher percentage that the personal injury lawyer gets if you take your case to trial and win. They will receive more money because they are taking more risk and putting in extra time for your case.
It can take quite a bit of time for a personal injury attorney to prepare for trial, and they may have to invest a lot of their financial resources without guaranteeing success. Thus, the personal injury lawyer should receive more money to reflect their significant effort and risk.
The Lawyer Must Give You a Reasonable Contingency Fee Agreement
A personal injury attorney cannot simply charge you any percentage they want to represent you; the rules of their profession bind every lawyer. Each state has rules of professional responsibility that a personal injury lawyer must follow in every aspect of their representation.
These rules specifically govern fees, dictating that:
“A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses.”
What is unreasonable depends on the facts and circumstances of the situation. The contingency percentage is one thing to consider when seeking legal help. While cost is undoubtedly significant, it is not the only important factor.
You should not automatically pick the personal injury attorney charging the lowest percentage as a contingency fee because less expensive representation does not always equal the best.
You may find a personal injury attorney who charges a slightly higher fee. Still, they may be your best option because they have a reputation as one of the most prominent attorneys in their practice and geographic area.
The Representation Agreement Will Also State Whether the Lawyer Needs to Receive Payment for Other Fees
In addition to the contingency fee, you also want to know about other fees the personal injury attorney may charge you. There are other costs associated with litigation that can include court fees for expert witnesses.
Personal injury attorneys handle these expenses in different ways. Some personal injury lawyers may pay for these fees themselves, while others may deduct them from the proceeds of your settlement before you receive the money.
The one thing that must remain consistent among all personal injury attorneys is that they cannot charge you for any fee that the fee agreement does not clearly state beforehand.
You must sign a written contract.
A personal injury lawyer cannot bill you for anything they have not told you about in writing at the outset of their representation. In addition, they must charge reasonable fees. You need to study and understand all the possible costs ahead of time and use it as one of the basis of comparison between potential personal injury attorneys.
You Pay Nothing if You Do Not Win Your Case
The contingency fee system means you will not have to pay a personal injury attorney anything for their time and services if you do not win your case. If you do not receive any money for your injuries, your personal injury lawyer will not receive payment from you.
Essentially, they have worked for you for free since you do not owe them anything out of your own pocket for their time and services.
Accordingly, you do not take on financial risk when you hire a personal injury attorney. The most significant mistake you can make is when you proceed on your own in a personal injury case without the help of an attorney.
Without legal representation, you certainly do not have much of a chance of getting the full amount of money that you deserve in compensation for your personal injuries.
The contingency law system means that a personal injury attorney should want to work with you by accepting your case. They also have something on the line because they do not get paid unless you receive money in connection with your case.
A personal injury lawyer only has a limited amount of hours to work, and they want to devote that time to cases that have the potential to make money. You can expect them to take a close look at your case before they are willing to accept it. After all, they are taking every bit of the chance on you that you are taking on them.
If a personal injury lawyer is willing to accept your case, it is a good sign that your claim has some merit. An attorney cannot guarantee any result, but taking your case is a show of confidence in the strength of your case.
A Personal Injury Lawyer is Standing By
Remember, the cost of hiring a personal injury lawyer is an investment in your future. Having a legal advocate on your side increases your chances of obtaining fair compensation for your injuries, medical expenses, and other damages.
Do not let financial concerns deter you from seeking the justice you deserve. Consult a personal injury lawyer today and explore your options for pursuing a claim.
