Some car accident victims don’t hire a lawyer because they are afraid they can’t afford one. After all, they are already facing unexpected expenses from medical bills, lost wages, and repair costs. However, pursuing a car accident claim on your own can put you at a disadvantage. Insurance companies often exploit unrepresented claimants, resulting in unnecessary denials and low settlements.
Fortunately, most car accident lawyers work on a contingency, so you don’t have to pay attorney fees upfront if you were in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. Under this arrangement, your lawyer gets paid when you receive a settlement or award. This allows you to access legal services when you need them without having to pay for them until you can afford them.
How Contingency Fee Works
Under a contingency fee arrangement, your lawyer’s payment for their legal service is contingent upon or conditioned on the outcome of your case. If your Carlsbad personal injury lawyer is successful and secures a personal injury settlement or award on your behalf, they receive a percentage of the settlement or award. If they are not successful, you don’t have to pay their fees. This protects you since you won’t owe if you don’t win. California ethical guidelines require lawyers to put contingency fee agreements in writing and explain them to clients.
Example of a Contingency Fee Arrangement
Here is how a contingency fee agreement might work in practice. You are rear-ended in a car accident. You hire Lawyer A for your personal injury case. Under the fee arrangement, your lawyer charges 33.33% (one-third) of your recovery, a standard percentage many Carlsbad personal injury lawyers charge. Your lawyer secures $100,000 in a settlement. Under your fee agreement, your lawyer receives $33,333. You receive the other $66,667.
Legal Costs
It’s also important to know that you may be responsible for legal costs associated with your case in addition to legal fees. These costs are expenses related to bringing forth a case. Common examples of legal costs you may incur in a personal injury case include:
- Investigator fees
- Medical record fees
- Record request fees
- Copying costs
- Telephone charges
- Postage
- Court costs and filing fees
- Depositions
- Court reporter fees
- Subpoena fees
- Expert witness fees
Depending on your contingency fee arrangement, your lawyer may advance these costs, or you may be responsible for them. They may be subtracted from your settlement or award before or after the contingency fee. Ask your lawyer how these costs are handled under your contingency fee agreement.
Contact Us Today to Discuss Our Fee Arrangements
At the Miller & Steele Law Firm, we don’t believe that your access to exceptional legal representation should be based on your ability to pay for them right now. We are confident that we can recover compensation in the cases we take on, which is why we provide our clients with the convenience of contingency fee arrangements and take on all the risk. We can discuss our fee arrangements during a free consultation, which you can arrange by calling (760) 840-5221 or contacting us online.