Steven A. Bagen | April 1, 2025 | Personal Injury
One of the first questions most people ask when seeking any service is, “How much does it cost?” You’re smart to ask the same question when you’re looking for a lawyer, but the answer may surprise you.
It costs you nothing out of pocket to hire a lawyer for a personal injury or wrongful death case. An attorney can offer this because of an agreement called a contingency fee. With such an agreement, a lawyer is entitled to a percentage of their client’s recovery—a recovery that the attorney earns for the client. Your lawyer will work to deliver all the money you deserve while covering their costs, too.
What’s the Story with Contingency Fees?
Different types of lawyers and firms use different fee types. Some lawyers bill by the hour, while others use a contingency fee, which means:
- The law firm does not receive any upfront payment from the client
- The law firm has no guarantee that they will get paid for their services
- The client agrees to grant their lawyer a percentage of their financial recovery (which will be either a settlement or judgment secured by the attorney)
- If the attorney does not deliver compensation to the client, that attorney does not recover a fee—in which case, they are their firm will be out the cost of their services
Each firm has its own specifics when it comes to contingency fees. Percentages can vary between firms, and most firms require a larger percentage of the financial recovery when a case goes to trial. Your free consultations are the time to ask prospective law firms how their fees work, including the specific details of contingency fees.
Why Contingency Fees Are a Great Benefit to Clients Like You
There are a few clear reasons why a contingency fee can benefit a client. Those who learn they don’t have to pay their attorney out of their pocket may be ecstatic because:
- Clients don’t always have the money to pay their lawyer upfront: Many people who might need an attorney might not hire one simply because they don’t have the money to do so. A contingency fee eliminates any financial concerns you might have about working with an attorney.
- You might hire a lawyer specifically because you’re under new financial burdens: Many clients hire a personal injury lawyer because they’re injured or sick, but financial losses necessarily follow injuries, illness, and even wrongful deaths. In other words, you might be concerned about finances when you approach a lawyer, so it may be appealing that you don’t have to pay your law firm out of your pocket.
- Your lawyer has added incentive to obtain compensation for you: Attorneys always want to place their clients in a better position—this is why they are in the legal field. Yet, the fact that a lawyer only covers their costs if they win means they really want to winfor the client. The more incentive your lawyer has to do a great job for you, the better.
- You only pay for results: With most products and services, you pay regardless of whether that product or service proves to be of high quality, low quality, or somewhere in between. When you hire a lawyer on a contingency fee, you only pay when the service yields results. That’s rare and valuable.
Remember that your lawyer will be entitled to a percentage of any financial recovery they negotiate or win for you. The thinking is that, with their experience and resources on your side, the attorney will get significantly more compensation than you might get on your own—though they cannot formally guarantee this. It’s still best to hire a personal injury attorney to maximize results.
A Contingency Fee Is a Sign of Confidence from Your Lawyer and Their Firm
Why would an attorney agree to represent any client without guaranteed payment? They are confident they can do the job well. Your attorney may have such confidence because:
- They have handled cases similar to yours: Lawyers know better than to assume that two similar cases will follow the exact same path to a resolution. However, a lawyer who has handled hundreds of slip and fall cases may simply be better at handling slip and fall cases than the average Joe or even the average attorney—experience carries weight.
- They have a team of legal professionals to assist: When someone brings a crew with them to do any job, they may be more confident in the job getting done efficiently and with an excellent result. This is true of personal injury attorneys, who often have paralegals, a network of experts and other professionals assisting with each case.
- They have successfully negotiated with insurance companies many times: The success of many cases hinges on negotiating a fair settlement with liable insurance companies. If an attorney has dealt with many different insurers and secured fair settlements many times, they should be confident that they can secure a fair settlement yet again.
- They can file a lawsuit if they hit any roadblocks during the insurance process: Anyone who has a solid backup plan should be more confident in eventual success. A lawsuit can be Plan A, but it is often the backup plan if liable insurance companies do not honor their financial obligations. Attorneys know this backup plan is always there for them to pursue.
Just as your lawyer is confident they will succeed for you, you should also be confident in their ability to succeed. This is especially true if a law firm has an extensive track record of obtaining settlements and verdicts for its clients.
Types of Cases in Which Contingency Fees Can Work
Contingency fees are generally appropriate in cases where a financial recovery is at stake. This includes many of the case types that personal injury lawyers handle, and those cases may involve:
- Medical malpractice
- Defective or otherwise hazardous products
- Environmental contamination
- Physical attacks
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Rideshare accidents
- Bus accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Scooter accidents
- Boat accidents
- Drunk driving accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Trip and fall accidents
- Other accidents that fall under premises liability law
- Workplace accidents
- Construction accidents
- Animal attacks
- Elder abuse and neglect
- Sexual abuse
- Wrongful death
If you or a loved one suffered harm because someone else was reckless, careless, or malicious, you may be entitled to compensation.
Your Attorney Will Determine If You Have a Case. They Will Look for Negligence.
Negligence is the justification for most cases that personal injury lawyers handle. They may find that your damages are the result of negligence if:
- One or more parties owed you (or your loved one) a duty of care, which means they were required to act as any reasonable person would
- One or more parties violated their duty of care, meaning they acted in a way that a reasonable person would not have
- The liable parties’ negligence caused you harm
A lawyer then identifies the harm the client has suffered as a direct result of the liable party’s negligence. This is the fundamental case that most personal injury attorneys work with, and they build their client’s unique details around this blueprint.
Now That You Know There’s No Cost to Hire a Lawyer, Here’s Why You Should Hire One
Since there is no financial friction when it’s time to hire a lawyer, here’s why you should not wait any longer to find your attorney:
- A lawyer can start working on your case immediately and won’t stop until the job is complete: Your case will likely have deadlines, including but not limited to a statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit. It’s important, then, that your lawyer can get to work right away. While you may have doctors’ appointments and other obligations to prioritize, your lawyer’s priority will be completing your case.
- Your attorney will ensure nobody jeopardizes your case or bothers you: Protecting clients from insurance companies’ bad faith, the common mistakes that claimants and plaintiffs make, and all other potential threats to the case is an attorney’s job. Having your lawyer’s unwavering protection should alleviate stress and help you focus wholeheartedly on your recovery.
- Your legal team will become your second family: A law firm comes with an overwhelming sense that you are supported. This can be critically important for clients who have endured traumatic accidents, are facing immense uncertainty, and are looking for someone to lean on.
- The law firm won’t spare any expense in fighting for the compensation you deserve: Remember that your lawyer will have to obtain compensation for you before they can cover their costs. Therefore, it’s generally worthwhile for a law firm to invest in clients’ cases—either the lawyer wins, or they get paid nothing. It makes sense to make short-term investments in pursuit of a longer-term reward.
Your attorney will be someone to call with any questions you have throughout your case. You should also expect your lawyer or a member of youyr legal team the law firm to contact you often, update you about the case, ensure your recovery is progressing, and let you know they care.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Will Fight for Justice on Your Behalf
Your attorney will meet with you, learn why you’ve hired them, and gather all relevant information about your case. These steps will enable them to create a customized plan just for you, and that plan may entail:
Leading the Insurance Claims Process
If your case involves one or more insurance claims, your attorney won’t wait to take over the claims process. Insurance companies might perk up when they realize you’ve hired a lawyer, as they will know they can’t delay, lowball you, or engage in bad-faith tactics that might work more effectively on claimants who lack an attorney.
Proving That Negligence Has Caused Your Damages
Lawyers prove at-fault parties’ negligence in a few ways, including:
- Compiling witness testimony that supports the client’s perspectives and accounts
- Hiring experts to testify, contextualize evidence, and conclude that the at-fault party was indeed negligent
- Strategically weaving together all available evidence to form a compelling narrative
Evidence should create a direct trail from the at-fault party’s negligence to the harm you’re now suffering.
Documenting Every Single Damage You’ve Suffered
An attorney must show why you deserve compensation. That means they must prove your damages. Some ways that legal professionals prove their clients’ damages are:
- Acquiring financial records that show the client’s monetary losses
- Hiring experts to testify about any physical injuries, mental health struggles, and other harm the client has suffered
- Getting relevant medical records
- Allowing the client to tell their story of pain and suffering, financial harm and uncertainty, and other damages resulting from liable parties’ negligence
Such documentation will be the cornerstone of your lawyer’s settlement demands, as documentation shows why you deserve the money you do.
Seeking a Settlement (and Being Prepared to Sue, Go to Trial, and Fight in Court)
Being a skilled negotiator is one of a lawyer’s greatest assets. Attorneys’ ability to negotiate settlements that favor their clients is one reason why the majority of cases settle.
An attorney also has leverage because if those who owe the client money don’t pay, the lawyer can move forth with a lawsuit and possibly a trial.
Success for a Personal Injury Lawyer Means Getting Fair Compensation for Your Damages
Your lawyer will gauge their performance based on whether you receive fair compensation for all your damages, which may include:
- Medical costs
- Professional damages (such as lost income)
- Pain and suffering
- The cost of property damage
- The cost of mental health services
Let your lawyer conduct a personalized accounting of your damages. They will explain how much compensation you deserve, and they will be the one to fight for that compensation.
Start Your Search Today
You should not wait a moment longer to find a lawyer. Deadlines for filing cases like yours can approach quickly while you’re distracted by recovery and personal obligations. Your lawyer will take full advantage of all the time you give them to build your case.