Understanding Attorney fees shouldn’t be hard. The Distasio Law Firm’s Attorney fees are of a contingency fee basis which means that rather than paying us a flat amount or an hourly rate for our legal representation, you pay us only when and if we win your case. At this point, you will pay us only a percentage of the total amount you recover via your settlement or damage award.
Reviewing Costs and Attorney Fees
We understand that you, like any prospective client, are concerned about what it will cost to have a personal injury lawyer represent you in your pursuit of compensation. No doubt, you have preconceived notions about how much it will cost to hire an attorney—and whether the outcome will be worth the investment.
Distasio Law Firm believes in being completely transparent about our costs and fees, so you can relax in knowing that what you see is what you get. We can best explain the specifics of your case in person.
When you come in for your free legal consultation, we will review your case, then explain to you your legal options for recovering the damages you have suffered as a result of your injury. This will include a high-level roadmap of how we see the case pushing forward, along with the costs and fees we anticipate for taking you to the finish line.
We will provide all the details of the attorney fees (contingency fee) agreement in writing, so you have a full understanding of what to expect.
How Contingency Based Attorney Fees Benefit You
Contingency fee pricing model is common in personal injury cases, for a variety of reasons:
Often, clients who have suffered a personal injury cannot shell out money upfront for a lawyer, especially for work that may or may not generate additional financial resources for the client. The legal process can take a long time to run its course, placing a potentially significant financial burden on a client who would otherwise be required to pay their legal fees upfront.
Contingency fees also help you, the client, in that they give you the added assurance that our legal team will be putting everything we have into winning your case—and winning handsomely. Otherwise, we do not get paid for the work we do. Finally, given the financial risk, we take with contingency fee arrangements, you know that when we accept your case, it means we feel confident in our ability to win.
Expenses/Costs You Might Expect in a Personal Injury Case
Along with the attorney’s fees, we will, advance costs on your behalf. You will not owe us for those costs until we win. When and if we win, we will deduct those costs from the recovery to reimburse us for what we have paid on your behalf. Some of the types of expenses that often arise during a personal injury case include:
- Administrative expenses: Postage, legal research, production of trial exhibits, copying documents, etc.
- Costs of investigation: Acquiring police, accident, and medical reports, hiring a private investigator, research, information gathering
- Court costs: Filing fees, juror stipend, summons/complaint service, testimony transcripts
- Expert witness fees: Common for any personal injury case, especially those that go to trial, and which may include medical, economic, vocational therapy, and/or life-care planning experts, who typically prepare and/or present expert reports explaining either cause of an injury and/or the damages resulting from it
- Deposition costs – Paying the stenographer’s rate, as well for a copy of the transcription of the deposition (sworn testimonies that occur outside of trial)
At Distasio Law Firm, we exercise exceptional judgment when determining how to spend resources—both time and money—to present a compelling case. Whether deciding on an expert witness, a private investigator, or trial exhibits, you can rest assured that we keep a vigilant eye on getting you a return on those investments.
What Percentage Do Accident Lawyers Take?
The percentage accident lawyers take for a truck accident case can vary. It is important to note that most personal injury lawyers do not charge a retainer or bill an hourly fee for their services. Truck accident victims typically do not have to pay anything out of pocket for legal representation.
Instead, truck accident attorneys who work on a contingency-fee basis. This means they assess their fees as a percentage of the payout they may secure for the client. The exact percentage that applies in your case may vary depending on the complexity of your case, whether or not it can be settled out of court, and how much in costs are advanced on your behalf.
You may want to contact a personal injury law firm directly to determine what percentage their accident lawyers take.
You May Pay Your Attorney About a Third of Your Settlement
The standard fee attorneys charge truck accident clients is 33% of their payout if a settlement can be reached prior to filing a lawsuit. This type of settlement is often called an out of court agreement with the insurance carrier representing the trucking company. At first glance, this may seem like a large portion of your settlement, and you may believe you are better off navigating the claims process on your own.
However, there are benefits to working with a lawyer on your case. A lawyer usually understands how to gather evidence to value a case, including identifying your damages and calculating future expenses. The best truck accident lawyers can usually negotiate a settlement that puts more money in the clients pocket even after the attorney’s fees than the client would have been able to negotiate on their own without an attorney.
Having an attorney on your side may also reduce the pressure on you to prove your case and handle this process on your own. Many lawyers also provide the following services:
- Answering questions and providing clients with legal advice
- Handling all communications, deadlines, and legal paperwork
- Hiring accident reconstruction or medical experts if necessary
- Keeping clients informed about their case while they can focus on recovering from their injuries
It May Cost You More If Your Case Goes to Trial
The percentage accident lawyers take generally increases if they take your case to trial. In fact, the standard fee increases to 40% after a lawsuit is filed. The fee increase occurs because the lawyer has to take on much more risk and work many more hours once a lawsuit is filed. This should be clearly outlined in your contract if it is a possibility in your case.
Gathering evidence to support an insurance claim usually requires a thorough investigation. After filing a lawsuit, the additional work involved will include things like preparing the complaint, engaging in the discovery process, answering written questions called interrogatories, producing and receiving documents, taking depositions, going to mediation, preparing for trial, and going to trial. This extra work required after filing a lawsuit, along with the risk involved, justifies the increase in the percentage of the fee for your truck accident case.
While many motor vehicle accident cases settle out of court, if an insurance company does not negotiate in good faith, a lawyer may recommend taking your case to trial and presenting an argument for compensation to the judge and jury.
It is important to note that time may be limited for you to file a lawsuit. Per each state’s statute of limitations, there is a deadline that applies to lawsuits for personal injury and wrongful death. If you try to file a lawsuit after this deadline expires, your case may be dismissed.
YOU MAY ALSO OWE COSTS ADVANCED
Simply put, properly preparing a case for settlement or trial costs money in addition to the attorney’s time or fees. This additional money paid out by the lawyer will cover things like medical records, expert witness fees, court filing fees, court reporter deposition fees, and mediation fees. The lawyer will advance these costs on your behalf by paying for them as they are incurred.
If there is no recovery, you will not owe this money to the lawyer. The lawyer will simply lose out on reimbursement of these costs. On the other hand, if there is a recovery on your behalf, the lawyer will take the costs advanced on your behalf out of the settlement in addition to their attorney’s fee percentage owed.
Call Today for Your Free Legal Consultation
The team at Distasio Law Firm is eager to help you with your personal injury matter. No matter what your injury, how it happened, or who caused it, we will fight to get you the compensation you need and deserve.
The sooner you hire a lawyer to represent you, the sooner your attorney can begin building your case—with access to a wider pool of evidence than what will be available further on down the line. Witness’ memories, for one, tend to fade with the passage of time.
Call Distasio Law Firm today so we can review your case and fill you in on how we can help recover physical, emotional, and economic damages you have suffered from your personal injury.
