How much does it cost to hire an injury attorney?

Many injury victims are afraid of pursuing a case because they fear they cannot afford to hire a lawyer. While some attorneys charge an hourly fee for their work, most lawyers use contingency fee agreements for their injury cases. This arrangement allows victims to spend their money on medical treatment and injury recovery rather than paying upfront legal fees.

Contingency Fees for Florida Injury Cases

The basis of contingency fee agreements is an attorney’s pay is "contingent" on recovering damages for the client. If you hire a lawyer under a contingency contract and your case isn't successful, you won't owe anything to the firm. If you win or settle your case, the attorney’s fees are paid directly out of the award.

Benefits of a contingency-fee arrangement include:

• Incentive to maximize recovery. Since your attorney gets a percentage of your settlement, he or she will be more invested in recovering as much compensation as possible in your case.
• No upfront fees. There are a number of upfront costs involved in filing a lawsuit, including filing fees, paying for copies of medical records and other documents, costs of hiring expert witnesses, and other legal expenses. Contingency agreements are often structured to cover all court costs until the case is resolved.
• Less risk to the client. Contingency fees shift some of the burden of winning the case to the attorney, allowing injury victims to get legal help without taking on additional debt.
• Fee approval. Florida law places a fee cap of 33-1/3 percent on out-of-court settlements of up to $1 million, which increases to 40 percent if the case goes to trial. While an attorney may charge any percentage up to the cap, our contingency fee contracts are approved by the Florida Bar Association to ensure that our clients’ rights are protected.

Not only do we take all injury cases on a contingency-fee basis, every consultation with our firm is free. Simply fill out the quick contact form on this page today to schedule your free case evaluation with Johnson & Gilbert, P.A.