Private lawyers charge fees. However, the way they charge can affect the ease of hiring them. You’ll likely have medical and ambulance bills to pay after you suffer an injury in an accident. As a result, you might not have money to spend on legal fees.
Moreover, your injuries could prevent you from working, leaving you to live off your credit cards and savings. Personal injury lawyers recognize these hardships, which is why they typically offer to represent clients on a contingency basis.
What Is A Contingency Fee?
Legal fees generally take the following forms:
- Flat fees
- Hourly fees
- Contingency fees
Flat fees are typically used for projects that require a predictable amount of work. For example, a lawyer might charge a flat fee to file adoption papers or write a property deed. Injury lawyers rarely charge flat fees because they can’t predict the amount of work an injury case will entail.
Lawyers often charge hourly fees for cases that involve ongoing work. For instance, an attorney might charge a business client an hourly fee to negotiate and write a contract. The client can likely afford an hourly fee, and the value of the contract justifies the expense. Injury lawyers rarely charge this way because the fees can grow quickly.
As the name suggests, a contingency fee is contingent on the outcome of a case. Specifically, a contingency fee is quoted as a percentage. If your lawyer settles your claim or wins your case in court, you’ll pay them an agreed percentage of the final award or settlement as a legal fee. If they lose your case, you’ll pay nothing.
A contingency fee structure allows you to hire an experienced and highly skilled lawyer without any upfront cost. Instead, the fee is paid at the end of the case once you and your attorney know how much compensation the at-fault party or their insurer will pay you.
Benefits Of Contingency Fees
Contingency fees provide several benefits to injured clients. The most important is that lawyers work hard when they accept contingency fee cases because their compensation depends on the outcome of their client’s case. As such, a prospective attorney will analyze the value of your case and your odds of success before offering to represent you.
This means you’ll get an early and objective evaluation of your claim. If the lawyer doesn’t believe you have a strong chance of success, they’ll decline your case. For example, a lawyer might turn down a case if the prospective client’s injuries resulted from anything other than another party’s negligence.
The attorney will also assess the losses you’ve incurred due to your injuries, which will determine the compensation you can recover. They might turn down a case with minimal losses. For instance, if you were in a car accident and suffered only scratches and bruises, a lawyer might decline your case because you stand to receive only minimal compensation.
Services Covered By Contingency Fees
Personal injury cases require a lot of legal work. However, your contingency fee will typically cover all of the legal services provided by the lawyer and the support provided by the law firm’s staff, including the following:
- Meetings, phone calls, and other communications
- Investigation, including evidence and record-gathering
- Preparation of an insurance claim filed with the at-fault party’s insurer
- Negotiation with the insurer to settle the insurance claim
- Litigation of your case if the insurer and at-fault party refuse to settle
While your fee will cover legal services, it may not cover case expenses. During your case, you might incur hard expenses. For example, many doctors charge a fee to copy and send medical records.
Your lawyer will advance money to pay these fees and ensure that your case doesn’t get derailed while service providers wait for payment. However, you’ll have to reimburse them at the end of the case for any hard costs they paid for you. Some common case expenses incurred in injury cases include:
- Deposition costs, including court reporter fees
- Medical record fees
- Court filing fees
- Expert witness fees
It’s wise to discuss these costs and the process your potential lawyer will use to document them early on — you don’t want to end up with surprise charges on your final bill.
How To Hire A Lawyer On Contingency
In many states, including Idaho, contingency fee agreements must be in writing. When you pick a lawyer for your case, you’ll receive a copy of their firm’s fee agreement. This agreement will include the contingency percentage and describe how the final fee is calculated.
Review the agreement carefully to make sure you understand the fees you’ll be expected to pay. Fees are common grounds for complaints about lawyers, so make sure to ask any questions you have about the agreement before signing it.
Contingency Fees And Your Case
Contingency fee arrangements provide significant benefits to accident victims seeking legal representation. Consult a lawyer if you have questions about the possible fees for your case.
Contact the Utah Personal Injury Lawyers at Parker & McConkie Today
For more information, please contact experienced Utah personal injury lawyers at Parker & McConkie to schedule a free initial consultation today. We have 5 convenient locations in Utah, including Midvale, Salt Lake City, Ogden & Provo, UT. Clients can also visit our offices in Idaho Falls, ID & Rock Springs, WY.
We proudly serve Weber County, Utah County, Salt Lake County in Utah, Bonneville County in Idaho, Sweetwater County in Wyoming , and its surrounding areas:
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Salt Lake City Office
466 S. 500 E., Suite 100,
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
(801) 851-1202
Hours: 24/7
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Midvale Office
7090 Union Park Ave, #160,
Midvale, UT 84047
(801) 845-0440
Hours: 24/7
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Ogden Office
2510 S Washington Blvd, Suite 160,
Ogden, UT 84401
(385) 402-8187
Hours: 24/7
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Provo Office
37 E Center St, Suite 300,
Provo, UT 84606
(801) 876-4107
Hours: 24/7
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Rock Springs Office
531 N Front St,
Rock Springs, WY 82901
(307) 205-7400
Hours: 24/7
Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers – Idaho Falls Office
2235 East 25th St. Suite #280,
Idaho Falls, ID 83404
(208) 418-0633
Hours: 24/7