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How Will My Injury Lawyer Get Paid? 

Posted: Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 at 6:26 pm

How Will My Injury Lawyer Get Paid? 

Clients and attorneys enjoy a degree of freedom in case of fee arrangements for personal injury cases. Usually, the side the attorney is representing determines the fee arrangement—an attorney sides with either a plaintiff or a defendant.  

For Plaintiffs 

In most cases where the attorney represents the plaintiff in a personal injury case, a contingency fee arrangement is a common form of payment. In this arrangement, the attorney does not receive payment for his/her legal services till they have helped their client recover their losses.  

In most cases, 33% of the amount an attorney recovers from a personal injury case goes into their contingency fee arrangement. This particular arrangement is quite simple, but you must know of other variations. These include: 

In mixed hourly contingency, you have to pay your attorney a reduced rate per hour for his/her services, regardless of whether you win or lose. In the event that you win, your attorney will be entitled to a bonus. 

This is almost like the simple contingency fee arrangement; only the pay rate scales as the litigation progresses.  

In contingency hourly, you will pay the attorney usually after he/she wins your lawsuit. The only difference is that you pay them according to the number of hours the attorney working on your case.  

For Defendants 

The fee arrangement for attorneys representing a defendant revolves around the billable hour. For instance, if your attorney dedicates 32.5 hours to your case at a $250 hourly rate, you pay him/her $8,125 for all the services.  

Just as a contingency fee arrangement is straightforward, so is the hourly billing procedure. However, certain variations exist in this category. They include: 

In a Retainer, you will deposit a significant sum in a special bank account. Once your attorney finishes working on your case, he/she can withdraw that sum from the retainer account. 

Blended hourly caters to more than one attorney working on a case. In this, you pay a flat sum of money for all the work a junior attorney and a senior, more experienced attorney does on your case.  

The junior cap is similar to the hourly billing process. In this arrangement, the only difference is that you pay a cap on the maximum sum of money your attorney will bill you for the legal matters. In this case, the cap can only go up to a certain extent, even if your attorney spends more time than anticipated on your case.  

Who Pays 

In case you are a plaintiff in a lawsuit, you will pay your attorney from the amount the defendant will pay you in settlement of the case. In many cases, the court itself orders the defendant to pay a certain sum after the trial comes to an end.  

In case you are a defendant and have a liability insurance policy, that will cover not only the sum you have to pay the plaintiff but also a legal defense if the court sues you. This means that your insurance company will select and pay the attorney that will be representing you.  

Final Thoughts 

With the help of an insurance policy, you can cover your expenses if you are the defendant in personal injury litigation. As a plaintiff, you can pay your attorney for their services from the sum you will receive as part of your case’s settlement. In case you have no insurance policy at all to cover, you will have to finance your attorney’s fee from your pocket.  

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-will-my-personal-injury-lawyer-get-paid.html 

 

 

 

 

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