The “No Fee if We Lose” Line Isn’t Unique – That Policy is Pretty Universal
Common question, perhaps the most common for me – what does a personal injury attorney cost? The answer is nothing. TV/Billboard lawyers claiming they don’t get paid unless you get paid are simply reiterating the same deal you will get from all personal injury attorneys.
A personal injury attorney does not take money out of your pocket. If they recover for you, via settlement or verdict, they will be paid from those proceeds. So those promises about “no fees unless we win” is pretty universal.
How Much Should I pay for a Personal Injury Attorney?
A personal injury attorney doesn’t reach into your pocket.
The standard fee for a personal injury attorney is 33% of the recovery plus costs. This percentage decreases as the amount of the recovery increases. Without a waiver, a personal injury attorney must reduce his percentage to 25% for every dollar between $300,001 – $600,000, and 20% for $601,000 through $900,000 and so on.
Costs refers to the money advanced by the attorney to prosecute your case, for example you might need file a lawsuit. The Court demands a $360.00 fee to file a case. The attorney generally pays this costs. If they lose they are out $360, if they win they want to be reimbursed.
How Do I Decide on a Personal Attorney?
Many of us are price conscious. We might wait for the big sale before getting that new shirt, or shop at a big box store like Costco for some items and PriceRite for others. But that doesn’t really work for personal injury attorneys.
We are all suckers for a sale.
This leads to an interesting question – If the personal injury attorney costs and fees are the roughly the same across the industry, then how do you pick a personal injury attorney?
Your decision must be based upon something different. What that might be is up to you. My advice is to consider what you are looking for in an attorney, who do you want telling your story to an insurance company, a jury, or a judge? Find that, because you are not going to save on price.
