Personal Injury Lawyer
When faced with an injury, you want to do everything possible to obtain the compensation you deserve. Someone who was negligent and caused your injuries should be held responsible. As you look at your options, you might consider a personal injury lawsuit against the liable party. What is the cost to hire a lawyer to help you with that? Are there other costs associated with such a lawsuit? The following breaks down some of the basics you should know about lawyer fees and other legal costs.
Lawyer Fees
In many personal injury cases, a lawyer will work on something called a contingency fee basis. This means he or she gets a percentage of your settlement, and payment is contingent upon you winning the case. If you don’t win, you don’t have to pay any lawyer fees. There are other types of lawyer fees, such as hourly or by-the-case, but many who deal with personal injury use contingency fees.
The percentage of your settlement the attorney will take is varied based on your attorney and your case, but many will charge somewhere between 33% and 40%. If your settlement were to end up at $70,000, and the fee was 33%, your lawyer would take $23,100.
Other Legal Costs
There are a variety of other costs associated with personal injury lawsuits. These are separate from your lawyer fees, and are charged differently based on how your attorney works. For example, one attorney may throw all those costs into the contingency fee and charge a higher percentage. Another may require you pay the costs as they come up. The following are a few examples of legal costs you’ll typically be required to pay.
- Administrative Costs – This could include postage, travel, research, copying and trial exhibits.
- Court Costs – This includes the filing fee, juror stipends and serving costs.
- Deposition Costs – This includes payment for the stenographer’s time and a copy of the deposition.
- Expert Witness Costs – This includes payment for the witness’s time in reviewing the case, preparing a report and providing testimony.
- Investigative Costs – This could include fees for obtaining police reports, hiring investigators and other means of gathering evidence.
Allowing a Lawyer to Explain Further
As you can see, there are a lot of things that go into how much it will cost to hire a lawyer and go through the process of a personal injury lawsuit. Your lawyer is better equipped to give you a closer estimate of how much you can expect to pay. Contact a personal injury lawyer, like from Davis & Brusca, today for further explanation.