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You should know about fees and expenses before you hire a lawyer.
LAWYER'S FEES are the money you pay the lawyer for the lawyer's professional time and related
services for work on your case. They are based either on a charge per hour or a contingent fee.
Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingent fee basis which is explained below.
LITIGATION EXPENSES are the other costs that are incurred in prosecuting litigation. They
include, among other things: copy costs, postage, travel expenses, long distance telephone costs,
court filing fees, professional fees witnesses such as your doctors charge for depositions and to
appear in court, charges from hospitals for copying your medical records, etc. Gonderman Legal
will advance the litigation expenses necessary to fully and fairly prepare your case.
What Is A Contingent Fee?
Normally, personal injury lawyers operate on a contingent fee basis. A contingent fee means
the lawyer is paid nothing for his or her work if the lawyer does not collect damages for you
through settlement or trial. If the lawyer does collect for you, you pay a certain percentage of the amount collected.
The good things about contingent fees are these:
- If your case is lost or you cannot collect for some other reason, you won't have to pay the lawyer for the lawyer's work.
- Since the lawyer's compensation increases as your recovery increases, the lawyer often has an incentive to make the best
recovery for you that he or she can.
How Are Litigation Expenses Handled?
Before hiring a lawyer, you need to know whether the lawyer will advance the litigation expenses for prosecuting your case.
If not, and if you cannot afford to pay them as the case progresses, you will not make a recovery or, if you do, it will not be
fair and adequate. (For example, taking the deposition of an expert witness can cost between $1,000 and $3,000. Could you afford
this?) You cannot get a full and fair recovery if your case is inadequately prepared. Without litigation expenses, the case
cannot be properly prepared.
If the lawyer advances the expenses, you will not have to pay them as the case progresses. Instead, you will reimburse the
lawyer for the expenses out of the recovery you make (in addition to the lawyer fees). At Gonderman Legal we will advance
your litigation expenses if you are unable to do so. Here is an example of how fees and expenses might be handled in a case
with a $100,000.00 recovery.
| Example: (33.33% lawyer fee, expenses advanced) |
| Gross Recovery (settlement or verdict) |
$100,000 |
| Less: lawyer fee, one-third (33.33%) |
$33,333 |
| Less: expenses (itemized) |
$1,000 |
| NET RECOVERY TO INJURED PERSON |
$65,667 |
What Are Contingent Fee Percentages?
Different lawyers use different percentages in computing lawyer fees. Some lawyers charge a 40% fee for all cases.
Others charge a lesser amount, e.g. 33.33% or sometimes less. Finally, some lawyers charged a "tiered" fee: for
example, 33.33% if the case is settled, and 40% or more if the case goes to trial.
You can and should discuss with lawyers you interview what the fair and reasonable lawyer fee is for the case.
If you have a very serious injury and very good liability, an attorney may be willing to take your case for a lower contingent fee.
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