Full Answer
Personal injury attorneys almost always work on a contingency fee basis. That means the attorney is paid a percentage of the money recovered through settlement or trial, and you owe nothing if the case loses. The most common percentages are 33.3% (one-third) of a pre-suit settlement and 40% if the case must be filed in court or proceed to trial.
Case expenses are separate from the fee. Expenses include filing fees, deposition transcripts, expert witness fees, medical record retrieval, accident reconstruction, and trial exhibits. Most firms advance these costs and recover them from your share at settlement. A typical pre-suit case may run a few hundred dollars in expenses; a contested trial can run tens of thousands.
Before signing, read the contingency fee agreement closely. Confirm the percentages, how expenses are handled, who has the final say on settlement, and what happens if you terminate the relationship before resolution.
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