How Much Are Lawyers' Fees?
Contingency Fees and Average Percentages
Filing a Personal Injury lawsuit in any state takes not only dedication but a lot of legal research. Hiring an attorney and allowing him to take a percentage of the damages won is the best alternative. A standard Personal Injury attorney works on a contingency fee and is only paid if won. The fee is set by law in each state and on average is 33.33 percent. When choosing an attorney to represent you in a lawsuit, be sure to ask upfront what the percentage is to be taken out when the case is over and any additional fees if the case is lost.
Still, confirm the rate and read the contingency contract carefully despite the fact that you already asked. Some attorneys raise the price to as much as 50% once the lawsuit is filed in court. An attorney that requires too little or too much of a percentage isn’t worth it. An inexperienced lawyer may take the case for 10 percent, while a greedy lawyer will do it for 50 percent.
Many lawyers will offer a free consultation for about 1 hour. Everyone should take this opportunity to go in the office and meet the lawyer face to face. Having a phone consultation is fine but many times seeing their body language is important to get a better idea of who the lawyer is. During this time be sure you’re getting a realistic evaluation of the case and the lawyer is listening to you, not just agreeing with you. At times lawyers will sit there and agree with everything you say and not really be paying attention to you. This isn’t the kind of lawyer you will want representing your best interest. If a case returns a large settlement or judgment, you may consider asking the lawyer to lower the fee but more than likely the lawyer won’t reconsider the contract. It was their skills that got you the large amount of money and they will feel it’s well deserved.
Not many lawyers, but some, may lower the percentage fee in another way. Instead of calculating their fee off the top of the settlement, they deduct your liens and any medical expenses and then take their percentage. This in turn will leave the client with more money and the lawyer with a lot less money overall. However, this is a very honest and ethical way of doing business and is most definitely in the best interest of the client. Don’t be afraid to ask the lawyer if they would consider doing this when the time comes to figure out the amounts to be paid.
Attorney fees for worker's compensation cases are regulated and on average lower than a personal injury tort case. That percentage fee isn’t limited to only the final settlement. It gets deducted from every amount of money the lawyer had to actually do work for. For example, the weekly voluntary benefits for lost wages are entirely the worker's and the attorney has no legal right to deduct from them. If the client needs the lawyer to go to a hearing to request an amount of money for any reason, the lawyer will have a right to deduct his percentage fee from that amount in order to be paid.