Most attorneys work on an hourly basis, charging clients an agreed upon hourly fee for the work performed. For instance, if you were to hire an attorney to represent you in a divorce or to defend you against a criminal charge you can expect to pay, on average, about $200 per hour. Personal injury attorneys are different in this regard, as most work on what is known as a “contingency fee.”
What is a Contingency Fee?
A contingency fee is an agreement whereby an attorney takes on a case based on the agreement that if the attorney is successful in recovering damages for the client, the attorney receives a percentage of the recovered amount as a fee for services. Most personal injury attorneys in Florida charge 33.33% of the gross recovery amount as a fee for cases where a lawsuit is not filed. Most often the fee goes up to 40% of the gross recovery in cases where a lawsuit is filed, and the case is litigated through the court system. For instance, if a car accident attorney recovers $10,000.00 for an auto accident client and didn’t have to file a lawsuit, the attorney fee would be $3,333.33. In the same situation where a lawsuit is filed, the attorney fee would be $4,000.00.
It is also important to keep in mind that if an attorney pays cost for certain things throughout the case, such as: ordering medical records, postage, filing fees, expert fees, etc., the attorney is entitled to recoup those fees out of the recovery as well. Those costs are deducted in addition to the fees paid for the attorney services. For instance, using the example above, if an attorney is recovers $10,000.00 for an auto accident client without a lawsuit, and spent $500 in costs getting the case to the point of settlement, the attorney fee would be $3,333.33 and the attorney would also be entitled to an additional $500 out of the $10,000.00 recovery to recoup costs.
On the flip side, if an attorney takes on a case and is unable to recover money damages for the client, the client does not owe the attorney a thing. This is true even in situations where the attorney has spent hundreds of hours and spent thousands of dollars on the case. In many ways, when a personal injury lawyer agrees to accept a case, the attorney is betting on himself to be able to get a recovery.
Additionally, most injury lawyers offer free consultations to discuss the facts and likelihood of success of a case before signing it up. The personal injury attorneys of Nonni Homola are no exception. If you or a loved one have been injured as the result of negligence, call our Tallahassee Personal Injury Lawyers today. Give us a call at 850-601-1111 or fill out our contact form for a free consultation.
Jaeson continued his studies at Florida State University College of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctorate in 2011. Throughout his law school career, Jaeson regularly volunteered his time at Florida Legal Services, where he assisted with several projects aimed at advancing the rights of low-income families in Florida. Jaeson has recovered millions of dollars from individuals for his clients. For his efforts, Jaeson was inducted in 2016 into the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. At the time of his induction, he was one of the youngest attorneys in the State of Florida to be inducted.
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