If you are looking into hiring a personal injury lawyer for a personal injury claim, you will find that the majority of lawyers offer a contingency fee payment system. If you have never hired this type of attorney before, you may not know what this means for you or your case. Here is some information you will want to know about contingency fees before you hire a personal injury lawyer.
What Is a Contingency Fee?
A contingency fee means that you do not pay your attorney a retainer fee to take on your case or pay them an hourly rate for the work they do on your case. Instead, they get a percentage of your award or settlement when your claim settles. The amount of the fee can vary, but most are 33 to 40 percent of your settlement.
What Happens If You Lose Your Case?
Contingency fees are often referred to as "no win, no fee" payments. This is because if the attorney does not win your case, they do not get paid for the work they did. As such, the personal injury lawyers and firms that offer this type of payment arrangement are selective in the cases they take on. They will only take on your case if they have a good chance of winning.
What Are the Benefits of a Contingency Fee?
The biggest advantage to hiring a lawyer on a contingency basis is that you don't have to put any money down to retain or pay for the lawyer. After an accident, you may find yourself unable to work or with little money. You don't have to worry about financially straining to pay a lawyer. The other benefit is that you don't have to worry about how much time an attorney is spending on your case. When you are paying an attorney by the hour, you may hesitate to call in with questions or concerns, as you can be billed for these calls. Or you may want to settle just to avoid the costly hourly fees associated with going to trial. That isn't something you have to worry about with contingency fees.
What Are the Disadvantages of a Contingency Fee?
The biggest disadvantage to a contingency fee is that they can be costly. In some cases, it would have been cheaper to pay by the hour, rather than pay a large chunk of your settlement at the end of the trial. As such, you need to carefully determine what your estimated settlement range may be based on the nature of your injuries, what your financial situation may be and then weigh how much time a personal injury lawyer may spend working on your case. From there, you can figure out whether a contingency fee is right for you or if simply paying a personal injury lawyer by the hour makes more sense.
If you are looking to hire a personal injury lawyer, contingency fee is a term that you will likely hear tossed around. Taking the time to learn about this term and get answers to the questions you may have will help you decide if this is something you want in an attorney you hire for your personal injury claim or not. Visit websites like http://www.grdlaw.com/ to learn more.
