Personal Injury Lawyer
After being injured due to the fault of another person or entity, you may be entitled to compensation. Is it worth hiring a personal injury lawyer? In many cases, yes. The following are some things that will help you understand how much you can expect your personal injury lawyer to cost when all is said and done.
Contingency Fees
Most personal injury lawyers work on what is known as a contingency fee basis. This means they don’t ask for a fee upfront, but will take a share out of your settlement. Many contingency fees range somewhere between 30% and 40%, with 33% being pretty average. The experience of the attorney and the complexity of the case may determine whether the fee is higher or lower than the average. If you feel the fee is too high, you can try to negotiate, but depending on the attorney, you may have to just stick with what was offered.
Additional Costs
Most legal situations call for a lot of additional costs. Your lawyer may take some time to really investigate your claim and will need to pay for the investigator. He or she may find expert witnesses to testify on your behalf. There will also be all the office fees such as filing, copying, printing and more. Your lawyer can help you understand how much these costs will be.
Each lawyer charges for these costs differently. One may ask that you pay them all as they arise. For example, when it comes time to file the claim, you would be required to pay the filing fee that day. When the investigator sends the lawyer a bill, you would be the one who pays it.
Other lawyers may dissolve these types of fees into the contingency fee as long as they feel the settlement will be high enough. For potentially small settlements, a lawyer may not offer this as an option, but it’s always worth asking. It’s also possible the lawyer will want you to pay these additional costs upfront or in a lump sum at the end of the case.
Learning More by Contacting a Lawyer
When you are ready to learn more about a personal injury case and how much it might end up costing you, contact a personal injury lawyer in Salt Lake City, UT. Be prepared with all your most pressing questions so you can get them answered and move on with the case as soon as possible.
Thanks to Rasmussen & Miner for their insight into personal injury claims and what to expect for costs.