Hiring a lawyer can be expensive. Injury victims and others in difficult positions often cannot pay for a lawyer out of pocket, which is why contingency fees can be a massive help. With a contingency fee, you only pay the lawyer out of the winnings, and only if they win your case. But not every lawyer uses contingency fees.
Contingency fees are only typical for plaintiff’s lawyers – the lawyers who take your case when you have been injured or harmed. They are incredibly common in personal injury cases, and it is rare to find a personal injury lawyer who doesn’t offer contingency fee arrangements. Contingency fees are also common in Workers’ Compensation and other plaintiff’s side cases, but you usually will not find them on the defense side, in criminal law, or in practices where you hire them for a service or work product like a contract or will.
Call our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers for a free case review and more information about fees. Call The Reiff Law Firm at (215) 709-6940.
What Lawyers Use Contingency Fees?
Contingency fees are incredibly common in personal injury law. Most plaintiff’s side injury lawyers will take your case on a contingency fee, meaning you pay no money up front, and you only pay in the end from the winnings.
“Personal injury” is a very broad area of law, and all of these claims can typically be handled on a contingency fee:
- Slip and falls
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Premises liability
- Products liability
- Medical malpractice
- Toxic torts.
You do sometimes find contingency fees in other plaintiff-side cases as well. Workers’ Compensation is one common example. You can also often find a lawyer to work on a contingency fee in employment discrimination cases, sexual harassment claims, and other claims of discrimination.
At the end of the day, contingency fees are only practical in cases where you can actually win damages. If you can’t get monetary damages from your case, then there are no damages for your lawyer to collect a fee from.
What Lawyers Don’t Use Contingency Fees?
Contingency fees are not practical when there are no winnings or damages. At the end of the case, your “win” might not get you any money, so there would be nothing to use to pay the lawyer on a contingency fee.
Defense Lawyers
This is usually the case in defense cases, where the lawyer is there to stop you from paying more money. At the end of the day, you need to pay a defense lawyer to prevent losing even more money by losing the case. This is part of the reason some cases settle: it would ultimately be more expensive to go to trial and win as a defendant than it would be to just settle early on.
Criminal Lawyers
All criminal cases where you get a private lawyer are defense-side cases. The prosecutor – the party bringing the case – works for the state, not a particular party.
Like with other defense cases, there are no winnings for the defendant, so there is nothing to pay a fee out of.
Contracts and Business Lawyers
Lawyers who draft up contracts and help form businesses often cannot work on a contingency fee. When they perform a specific service and deliver work products, there is no money changing hands that they can get a percentage of.
Some business transactions do see agents and lawyers get a percentage of the transaction as their fee, but this comes on top of the money changing hands, not out of the total funds.
Wills and Estate Lawyers
Administering a will can often result in a fee that comes as a portion of the estate, but lawyers who draw up wills, trusts, and other documents usually do not get to charge a contingency fee. Like with contracts, they are delivering a product and cannot get a cut of that.
How Much is a Contingency Fee?
When lawyers use contingency fees, they must be reasonable. The typical is somewhere around 1/3 of the winnings in your case (i.e., 33%), but this commonly fluctuates up to 40%.
It is always important to discuss fees with your attorney. Without a contingency fee agreement signed and in place, lawyers might charge hundreds of dollars per hour. With a contingency fee, you ensure that you have the money to pay and that you pay nothing if you lose your case.
Contingency fees might also change based on the specific lawyer doing the job. Some personal injury firms use lower rates for junior attorneys and higher rates for senior attorneys or partners, but this difference often reflects the attorney’s experience and skills.
In some cases, contingency fees are capped, such as the 20% cap on Workers’ Compensation fees.
Can I Get Attorney’s Fees from My Damages?
In some cases, you can claim attorney’s fees as part of the damages in your case. Usually, lawyers pay for their own attorneys under our so-called “American rule.” You can sometimes get attorney’s fees covered as part of the punitive damages, as part of sanctions against unprofessional defendants, and if authorized by law.
Sometimes defendants can also get their attorney’s fees covered if the plaintiff’s case ends up being frivolous or unfounded.
Do I Have to Use a Contingency Fee?
Usually, a contingency fee is the simplest way to pay a lawyer, and it prevents you from having to pay out of pocket. You also pay nothing if you lose, protecting your finances.
That being said, you can always talk to your lawyer about a different fee structure.
Is a Contingency Fee Good for My Case?
Lawyers who typically work on contingency fees must win your case in order to get paid. This fee structure links their paycheck to your victory, putting you both on the same page about how important winning is. This usually works to your benefit.
The main criticism of contingency fees is that attorneys may try to spend as little time on your case as they can. However, we are still legally and ethically required to put your best interests first, and can’t win your case if we ignore that duty. This is also a strong incentive for us to win your case quickly and maximize your payout.
There is a chance that a lawyer working on a contingency fee might not take a case if the payout would be too low, but having a mix of high-dollar cases allows firms like ours to take on smaller cases as well, getting more clients the representation they deserve.
Call Our Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys Today
For your free case evaluation, call The Reiff Law Firm at (215) 709-6940 right away.
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