While you’re recovering from the shock and trauma of a serious injury, it’s no time to worry about how to pay for the attorney you need to secure your financial recovery. Fortunately, reputable personal injury attorneys in Arlington use contingency-fee payments, but how do contingency fees work?
This convenient payment system, described in WAC 4-30-044, allows an attorney to go to work for you at no upfront cost. You only pay their fee if and when they’ve recovered compensation for you in your claim. Then, the attorney charges a pre-agreed-upon percentage of your total compensation as their fee.
Why Do Personal Injury/Wrongful Death Lawyers Use Contingency Fees?
Personal injury attorneys understand that few people put funds aside for the possibility that they may one day need to hire a lawyer to represent them in a personal injury, car accident, or wrongful death claim against someone who caused them a serious injury. Unfortunately, however, 43.5 million people go to emergency rooms in the U.S. each year for serious injuries; sometimes these injuries are caused by someone else’s negligence, reckless actions, or wrongdoing. While it adds to the frustration and distress to know that the injury could have been prevented with someone else’s reasonable care, when someone else’s negligence caused the accident, you can recover compensation for your losses through a personal injury claim. Personal injury attorneys don’t expect upfront payment. Instead, they offer a free consultation and contingency-based payment so they can go to work for you and only take their fees after recovering compensation for you from the at-fault party’s insurance, or less commonly, through a personal lawsuit against the at-fault party’s financial holdings.
What Are the Benefits of Contingency-Based Payment In Washington Personal Injury Claims?
There are several important advantages to the contingency-based payment system, beyond the fact that an attorney goes to work at no upfront cost to you. Because your attorney’s payment depends on acquiring compensation for you through a settlement or court award, they work hard to achieve a settlement. A personal injury attorney doesn’t get paid unless and until you get paid first. If they cannot obtain compensation for you, they don’t get paid at all.
Not only does your attorney’s payment for their hard work depend on their ability to recover compensation for your damages, but the more compensation they recover for you, the more they get paid. Personal injury lawyers charge a percentage of the total amount of compensation they recover for you. Typically, this percentage ranges from 33% to 40% depending on the attorney’s experience level. Some attorneys charge 33% of the total amount recovered if the case settles, but increase their contingency fee to up to 40% if the case proceeds to litigation in court.
Ask About Attorney’s Fees and Contingency-Based Payment Before Hiring a Lawyer
It’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your attorney’s fee structure for contingency-based payment, including the percentage they charge at the end of the case after they’ve obtained your compensation either through a pre-trial settlement or a court award for your damages. The agreement should be in writing, and the terms should be clear. If you have questions, be sure to ask the attorney before agreeing to hire them. Contact Wells Trumbull today!