When it comes to personal injury legal matters, most attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis. You do not owe the lawyer any fees for services rendered with a contingency fee agreement unless you recover monetary compensation by way of a settlement, arbitration award, judgment, or jury verdict. If a court does award you financial compensation, the attorney will receive a certain percentage of your gross recovery, under the terms of the contingency fee agreement you signed before your attorney began representing you.
When you consult a personal injury lawyer, you need to understand all of the terms of the contingency fee agreement and ask the attorney any questions you may have. An experienced personal injury lawyer in your area can address all of your concerns and represent you throughout every stage of your personal injury case.
What Are Personal Injury Cases?
In most jurisdictions throughout the country, an injured individual can file a personal injury claim or lawsuit if they suffer an injury or illness that results from another person’s negligence.
For example, the accident victim could suffer injuries in a motor vehicle accident, bicycle accident, pedestrian accident, or slip-and-fall accident. Likewise, a person might become injured due to a defective product or piece of equipment that malfunctions, even when the person uses it properly and for its intended use. Finally, a person could become injured on a boat, in an amusement park, or at a recreational facility simply because no person or entity safely maintained the property.
In a personal injury claim or lawsuit, the burden of proof lies squarely with the accident victim who suffered the injury or illness. Specifically, the accident victim must be in a position to demonstrate that the negligent person or entity owed them a duty, such as the duty to operate a motor vehicle safely and carefully in a car or truck accident case. The accident victim must also show that the negligent person violated the duty of care and that this violation resulted in the accident, along with the injuries and other damages that the accident victim suffered.
Serious accidents, like motor vehicle collisions, slip and falls, and others can lead to equally serious and debilitating injuries. For example, accident victims can suffer traumatic head and brain injuries, bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, internal injuries, and back and spinal cord injuries, including possible paralysis.
When an accident victim suffers one or more of these injuries in an accident that is caused by another person’s negligence, the accident victim might need to undergo a significant amount of medical treatment, including surgeries and physical therapy, to recover fully from the injury or injuries sustained.
In serious accident cases, the accident victims’ injuries might be permanent and last for the remainder of their lives. In the worst accident cases, the accident victim might even succumb to their injuries and pass away prematurely. When that happens, the accident victim’s surviving loved ones could assert a claim for wrongful death damages, including compensation for funeral and burial expenses and loss of the decedent’s anticipated future income.
When a personal injury attorney represents an accident victim in a personal injury claim or lawsuit, the attorney typically operates on a contingency fee basis, pursuant to a written agreement that the accident victim and attorney sign beforehand.
How Does a Contingency Fee Agreement Work in a Personal Injury Case?
Most personal injury cases are contingency fee cases. Contingency fee agreements are legal contracts between a lawyer and an accident victim. For an attorney contingency fee agreement to be valid and enforceable, the agreement must be in writing and signed by the parties (the personal injury attorney and the accident victim client). The agreement states the fee percentage of the accident victim’s gross recovery (via settlement, arbitration, judgment, or jury award) that the attorney receives once the personal injury case is complete.
In many instances, if the case settles without having to file a lawsuit, the attorney’s contingency fee percentage is less than if the attorney filed a lawsuit or if the case has to go to a jury trial or binding arbitration proceeding.
However, under the terms of some contingency fee agreements, the attorney’s fee does not increase simply by filing a lawsuit in the court system. In other words, if the case settles out of court at any point during negotiations or litigation, the lower contingency fee applies.
The fee only increases if the attorney takes the case to trial or binding arbitration, and the client receives a verdict or arbitration award. This increase is because trials and binding arbitrations require significantly more attorney work and preparation than settlements or simply taking part in the litigation or discovery process.
Under a contingency fee agreement, if the accident victim does not receive any financial recovery in the case by way of a settlement, judgment, jury verdict, or arbitration award, they will not owe the attorney a fee. In addition, depending upon the terms of the agreement, the attorney might also receive no compensation for their expenses.
If you want to retain a particular attorney to represent you in your personal injury legal matter, understand all of the terms of the contingency fee agreement and ask the attorney any questions you may have.
Will I Have to Pay Expenses in Addition to an Attorney’s Fee Out of My Gross Recovery?
In addition to a personal injury attorney’s fee percentage, contingency fee agreements also typically state who will be responsible for paying all of the expenses associated with litigation. Litigation expenses include the costs associated with obtaining and copying medical records and bills, filing documents with the court, and postage costs.
In many instances, under the terms of a contingency fee agreement, these expenses will come out of the client’s gross recovery in the personal injury case. However, at other times, the accident victim could be responsible for paying these expenses even when their case does not settle, or the accident victim does not receive a financial recovery in the case.
Before entering into a contingency fee agreement with a personal injury lawyer in your area, you want to make sure that you are clear on who is responsible for paying the expenses associated with litigating your personal injury case. A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can answer all of your questions and ensure that you are both on the same page when it comes to fees and expenses.
How Does a Contingency Fee Compensate an Attorney?
A contingency fee compensates an attorney for all of the legal services that they render in a personal injury case that is successful. For a personal injury case to succeed, the accident victim must recover monetary compensation for the injuries they suffered in an accident.
This financial compensation might come in the form of a settlement or by way of a jury verdict (such as if the case goes to trial in front of a jury and the jury decides the case) or arbitration award (such as if an arbitrator decides the issues and awards damages to the accident victim).
Some of the legal services that a personal injury lawyer performs in a case and for which the attorney receives compensation by way of a contingency fee include preparing a settlement demand, negotiating with the at-fault insurance company, and if necessary, filing a complaint in the court system and litigating the case to a conclusion.
Many personal injury cases are settled out of court long before the case ever gets to a jury trial. A personal injury lawyer begins the process by preparing a settlement demand package to forward to the insurance company, usually for the at-fault person or entity in the accident.
As part of the settlement demand package, the personal injury attorney will include copies of all of the accident victim’s medical treatment records, medical bills, and any lost wage documentation (such as paperwork that shows the number of days the accident victim missed from work since the date of the accident and the amount of money they lost).
The demand package might also include photographs taken of any property damage or physical injuries, investigative reports (including police reports), and a victim impact statement that states the overall impact that the accident had on the accident victim and their loved ones. Once the attorney completes the demand package, they will then forward it to the insurance company adjuster, who will review it and likely make an initial settlement offer.
Another duty of the personal injury attorney is to negotiate a favorable settlement offer with the insurance company on behalf of the accident victim. In many instances, the initial settlement offer from an insurance company adjuster does not fully or fairly compensate the accident victim for their injuries and everything else that followed the accident.
When that is the case, the personal injury attorney can negotiate on behalf of the accident victim. These settlement negotiations will typically continue until the parties either settle the case or reach an impasse. When the latter occurs, the personal injury attorney may elect to file a lawsuit in the state court system after consulting with their client, seeking monetary compensation and damages.
An attorney filing a personal injury lawsuit does not necessarily mean that the case will ultimately go to trial. Instead, filing a lawsuit simply ushers in the litigation stage of the case. During litigation, the parties will exchange answers to written questions, called interrogatories, that usually relate to how the accident happened, the medical treatment that the accident victim received, and the injuries that they sustained.
The defense attorney may also decide to take the accident victim’s oral deposition, during which time the attorney can find out more about the accident victim’s version of the case.
In addition to representing the accident victim during the litigation and discovery stages of the case, a personal injury attorney can also represent the accident victim at a trial, binding arbitration, or another legal proceeding. At a jury trial, the accident victim can tell their story about how the accident occurred, the injuries they suffered, and the impact that the accident had on their life.
The personal injury attorney can examine witnesses, make arguments, and advocate for the accident victim to pursue monetary compensation and damages. Similarly, during a binding arbitration proceeding, the personal injury attorney will advocate for the accident victim to convince the arbitrator to award damages of a certain amount.
Your experienced personal injury attorney can answer any questions you may have about the services they will provide to you in your personal injury case. Additionally, they can also make recommendations about whether you should accept a particular settlement offer from the insurance company or take your case to trial or binding arbitration. Contact Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC to learn more about your legal options.
