When are suffer an injury in an accident caused by a negligent party, you need experienced legal representation on your side when you file a personal injury lawsuit. However, many accident victims are reluctant to hire a lawyer due to costly attorney fees.
Additionally, what if you lose your case? Would you still have to pay your attorney despite not recovering any sort of compensation to even pay your medical bills and make up for lost wages?
Fortunately, most plaintiff personal injury firms handle cases on a contingency fee basis.
The basic concept of the contingency fee agreement is a payment arrangement that enables an injured victim (or plaintiff) to seek legal counsel—even if they do not have money to pay an attorney at the beginning of the case. Rather than paying a fee up front, the plaintiff agrees to pay an attorney a percentage of their award if they win the case.
Here are several factors to determine the amount or percentage of the contingecy fee:
- Nature and extent of injuries and damages involved in the personal injury case
- Complexity and novelty of the case
- An attorney’s years of experience
- If a similar lawsuit has been filed
- If the case can be resolved inside or outside the courtroom
- The client’s individual needs
- The likelihood of success
If the plaintiff does not recover anything in your case via settlement or jury trial, they will not be charged an attorney’s fee according to the contingency fee agreement. As such, a personal injury lawyer has an immense incentive to work hard on your case and obtain the most favorable outcome possible for their client. Keep in mind, win or lose, you probably will have to pay filing fees, the costs related to deposing witnesses, and similar charges.
Contingency fee agreements can be an important tool if you believe you have a strong legal claim, but are not able to pay the costs of legal representation upfront. If you think that you might have a case and would like to know more about possible contingency fee agreements, contact our Austin personal injury attorney at The Stewart Law Firm, PLLC today.
