How Will I Pay for My Personal Injury Attorney?

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how will I pay for my personal injury attorney

If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you should consider hiring a personal injury attorney to help you obtain compensation for your losses. However, you may wonder how personal injury attorneys get paid when they don’t require upfront payment from their clients. Many personal injury attorneys accept these cases on what is called a “contingency fee” basis.

What is a Contingency Fee?

A contingency fee is a type of fee structure where an attorney gets paid if the case is successfully resolved. In other words, if a client receives a monetary award for injuries in a personal injury lawsuit or settlement, the attorney is compensated from that award or settlement for his or her representation.

 

The specifics of a contingency fee breakdown can usually be found in an engagement agreement, which the attorney sends to the client to review and sign prior to working on the case. Clients may benefit from contingency fees because it is cost-effective for them—no initial attorney fees to pay, and the attorney is only paid if the client also gets paid. As a result, this fee structure incentivizes attorneys to perform at their best. During your initial consultation, feel free to ask attorneys about their fee structure so that you are fully aware of what to expect before making the decision to hire them. At Tipton Law, we will be transparent with you regarding our competitive fee structure. We will also explain how our services can help set you up for success with your claim.

How is a Contingency Fee Different from Other Fee Structures?

Attorneys practicing in other areas of law may incorporate different fee structures. For example, some may offer a flat fee structure. In this case, clients pay a one-time fee at the beginning of representation to compensate the attorney, regardless of how much time an attorney works on the case. On the other hand, hourly rate structures are a little different. Here, clients are charged a retainer as a down payment at the beginning of the case. Attorneys then bill for their time spent on the case based on their unique hourly rates, and earned funds are pulled from the client’s initial down payment (the retainer). Once the retainer is depleted to a certain amount, attorneys will ask the client to replenish the account based on the remaining work needed to be completed. As you can imagine, this can become costly, depending on the circumstances.

At Tipton Law, our attorneys understand how time-consuming, stressful, and costly these personal injury cases can be. When you’re injured in an accident, our goal is to redirect your focus from worrying about attorney fees to concentrating on your journey to recovery. Call us today to learn more about how we can help navigate your claim through a contingency fee structure.