If the person asking that question was in an accident due to another driver’s negligence, then the questioner should be pleased with the answer. The amount paid to a car accident lawyer or a personal injury attorney depends on who has been blamed for the damaging collision.
A personal injury lawyer gets paid on a contingency basis.
That lawyer’s client is the claimant, the plaintiff. Hence, claimants should plan to consult a plaintiff’s accident lawyer. Lawyers that specialize in that area of the law do not charge a fee, unless the client recovers the desired compensation.
Each of those lawyers takes between 25 and 40 percent of the money granted to the client. If the case gets settled quickly, the lawyer’s fee comes to roughly 25% of the money that the insurance company hands-out in the way of compensation. If the case goes to trial, the fee might equal a 40% cut from the client’s award.
The Personal Injury Lawyer in Vaughan and client must agree beforehand on the percent of any negotiated settlement that will go to the client’s chosen attorney. If the case proceeds to trial, then the attorney’s percent must be agreed-to by the client, and it must come from the amount specified in the jury’s verdict, or the award granted by a judge.
Other details that should be spelled-out in the contract between the lawyer and the client.
The contract should state who will be held responsible for any upfront expenses, such as court fees, the cost of medical records, and the money paid to witnesses. If the payment must come out of the client’s settlement or award, then the contract must state when the money for the payment gets taken out of the funds that have been offered to the client.
The client deserves to know how such a payment will be collected from any settlement money. Some lawyers collect the money for such a payment from the full settlement, the amount of money offered to the client. Others agree to collect it from the net settlement, the money that was obtained from the agreed-upon cut.
A word of warning about lawyers’ fees
As a general rule, an attorney’s fee reflects the years of experience that the same attorney has put into the task of representing clients. In a case handled by a plaintiff’s accident lawyer, that would be the number of years spent representing the victims of a car accident.
More experienced lawyers are more likely to help a client get a larger settlement or a larger award, if the case goes to court. That fact should be considered by anyone that plans to be visiting several lawyers’ offices, in hopes of finding the ideal legal counsel.