How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?

A personal injury lawyer does not cost clients anything out of their own pockets. Because attorneys understand that many clients face financial hardship, they offer a fee structure that requires no direct financial commitment. Put simply, your personal injury lawyer will only receive their fee if they secure a settlement or verdict for you.

Rather than paying your lawyer out of pocket, you will only need to agree that they will receive a fair percentage of the compensation they obtain for you. This way, you won’t have to worry about whether you can afford an attorney.

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Why Personal Injury Lawyers Use Contingency Fees

There are several reasons why personal injury attorneys structure their fees on contingency, which include:

• They can afford to: Any law firm that offers a contingency fee can afford to cover the cost of completing their clients’ cases. Going further, these firms can afford to hire experts and invest other resources in a case—resources many clients would not otherwise be able to pay for. One reason why law firms offer contingency fees is because they can.
• Many clients would be unable to hire a lawyer otherwise: For reference, the average car accident resulting in disabling injuries costs hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic damages alone. This gives you an idea of how financially strained many clients are. If they had to pay out of pocket, many clients would be unable to afford an attorney. The contingency fee structure ensures that anyone who needs a personal injury attorney can afford one.
• Attorneys believe in their ability to win for the client: Lawyers who work for a contingency fee don’t receive payment if they lose. This means their time and expenses would go unpaid. Therefore, a contingency fee signals that a law firm is confident it will succeed for the client—otherwise, the lawyer and firm would work at a financial loss.

Contingency fees are very common in the personal injury field. They are an attractive fee structure for clients, and law firms must offer contingency fees if they are to compete against other personal injury attorneys.

How Contingency Fees Benefit the Client

As a client, you should feel encouraged when you find out a law firm works on contingency.

Some of the greatest client-specific benefits of contingency fees include:

• Not having to pay out of pocket: Many who hire a personal injury attorney are facing difficult financial circumstances. If they had to pay upfront or out-of-pocket for a lawyer, they might not be able or willing to do so. A contingency fee eliminates any concern you would otherwise have about spending your own money on an attorney.
• Knowing your attorney has a financial incentive to win: You likely want to receive as much compensation as you are entitled to—who wouldn’t? Because your lawyer will only receive payment for their services if they secure compensation for you, you know that your legal team will fight hard to obtain a financial recovery.
• Knowing your attorney has reason to secure the largest settlement or verdict possible: A contingency fee is a percentage (not a fixed number). This means the more money your lawyer secures for you, the more compensation they receive. Not only will your lawyer want to win for you, but they’ll want to win as much compensation as possible.
• Not having to pay for ineffective representation: If your lawyer does not achieve the financial outcome you want—a settlement or verdict—the lawyer does not receive any compensation. This means you agree only to compensate your lawyer if they represent you successfully.

When looking for your personal injury attorney, ask whether a given law firm uses contingency fees.

How Much Is a Lawyer’s Contingency Fee?

The percentage a lawyer receives through a contingency fee can vary based on:

• The specific firm (those with a stronger reputation, more resources, or superior case results may charge a slightly higher fee)
• The difficulty and complexity of a case
• Whether a case goes to trial
• Certain other factors

As a client, you can ask a law firm about its fee structure. Ultimately, though, the contingency fee arrangement affords clients many benefits, and it is likely the arrangement you will use to hire your attorney.

Does a Contingency Fee Cover All of My Lawyer’s Services?

Yes, a contingency fee covers every service a lawyer will provide. From their own responsibilities (like gathering evidence and documenting your damages) to the cost of experts and other case-related expenses, a contingency fee accounts for everything a personal injury lawyer offers.

What a Personal Injury Attorney Does in Exchange for Their Fee

Once you agree to hire a personal injury lawyer, the lawyer becomes the sole party responsible for your case. While they will also work with paralegals, experts, and investigators, your attorney will lead the way in:

Securing and Organizing Evidence 

In most personal injury cases, a lawyer must prove that someone’s negligence caused their client to suffer injuries or lose a loved one.

Whether the case involves a car accident, slip and fall, work injury, toxic exposure, or other harmful circumstance, an attorney may prove negligence using:

• Video
• Photographs
• Witness accounts
• Expert testimony
• An expert’s reconstruction of a harmful event (like a truck accident)
• A police report

Evidence is specific to each personal injury case. Lawyers can quickly recognize and incorporate important evidence in a claim or lawsuit.

Pinpointing Those Liable for Your Damages

Your attorney will rely on available evidence and information (as well as you) to determine who:

• Directly caused the event(s) that have caused you harm
• Is financially responsible for your damages

In many cases, these parties are the same. For instance, a motorist who speeds and causes a collision is both at fault for the accident and financially liable for the victim’s damages, though their insurer may also be liable.

In other cases, though, a person with financial liability may not have caused the harmful event. For example, a trucking company may be liable for a driver’s accident even if the trucking company did not directly contribute to the collision.

Proving Negligence as the Cause of Your Damages

Your personal injury lawyer will prove that:

• Someone owed you a duty of care: Those with a duty of care must act reasonably in a given circumstance. For instance, a doctor must take reasonable measures to protect the patient from harm, and a motorist must engage in safe driving practices.
• That person or organization violated their duty of care: If someone failed to act reasonably in a way that led to you being harmed, your lawyer will document their unreasonable actions and explain how those actions harmed you.
• The violation of the duty of care caused a harmful event: Your attorney will use the evidence they have gathered to establish a connection between the defendant’s unreasonable actions and the event that caused you harm, such as an auto accident.
• The harmful event caused you to suffer damages: As the final step, your attorney will prove that you have suffered harm (including both economic and non-economic damages) because the defendant violated their duty of care.

In completing these four steps, your lawyer will have proven negligence—the basis of securing compensation through an insurance claim or lawsuit.

Documenting Each of Your Recoverable Damages

Your damages are unlike any other client’s. Every person has different injuries, recovery timelines, pain and suffering, and damages. That said, some of the common types of documentation personal injury lawyers use are:

• The client’s testimony about their damages (particularly pain and suffering, which the client understands most intimately)
• All medical records for injuries resulting from negligence
• Medical images
• Doctors’ diagnoses, observations, and other notes specific to the client
• Medical bills
• The client’s past and present income records, which can show lost income
• Mental health professionals’ diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and other types of pain and suffering

Savvy personal injury lawyers leave no doubt about their clients’ damages. This way, your attorney can negotiate from a strong position, as they will have irrefutable proof of the harm you have suffered.

Calculating the Value of Your Case

Above all else, a lawyer’s responsibility is obtaining compensation for their client. The amount of compensation your lawyer pursues will depend on the total value of your damages.

Damages fall into three primary categories:

• Economic damages
• Non-economic damages
• Punitive damages

Attorneys understand how to calculate each of these damages, so let a lawyer do this for you.

Presenting Settlement Demands and Negotiating as Necessary

Once your lawyer has a firm grasp of your case value, they can present their demands to liable parties. In many cases, this means providing a demand letter to one or more insurance companies.

If you sue, your lawyer may present their demands to a civil defense lawyer. Should your case reach trial, your attorney will ask a jury or judge to award you the compensation you deserve.

Drafting and Filing a Lawsuit

Not every personal injury case results in a lawsuit. In fact, most settle. However, if you decide to sue—perhaps because a liable party is uninsured or insurance companies are operating in bad faith—your lawyer will draft and file the lawsuit as soon as possible.

There are typically strict deadlines for filing personal injury lawsuits. Such deadlines are one of the many good reasons to hire your personal injury attorney as soon as possible.

Representing You at Trial

Relatively few personal injury cases end up at trial. However, trials are far from unheard of. A trial can be necessary whenever a personal injury lawyer and liable parties cannot reach a financial agreement that is fair to the client.

An experienced attorney can:

• Advise you about whether a trial is necessary or best for you
• Lead you through the pre-trial process, which may include a deposition
• Attempt to negotiate a settlement before a trial begins
• Handle every step at trial, including questioning witnesses, calling experts, and presenting evidence
• Urging a jury or judge to award you the compensation you deserve

An attorney’s full-service approach means that when you hire one, all legal options are available to you.

Here’s What a Settlement or Verdict Might Cover in Your Personal Injury Case

Everything your personal injury lawyer does will be in pursuit of a fair settlement or verdict. What constitutes a “fair settlement or verdict” will depend on the damages you face, which may include:

Medical Costs

Common medical needs among clients in personal injury cases include emergency treatment, medical imaging, hospital services, and medications. Surgeries are also sometimes necessary.

Your attorney will consult your doctors, evaluate all of your medical needs, and seek fair compensation for your medical costs.

Rehabilitation Costs

If you require any type of rehabilitation, your attorney will calculate the cost of the rehab itself and any rehabilitation-related expenses (like time and transportation costs)

Pain and Suffering

Some common types of pain and suffering featured in personal injury cases include:

• Lost quality of life
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Scarring and disfigurement

Such damages are often complex and lack an obvious financial value. Trust your lawyer to evaluate them in great detail and determine their precise monetary cost.

Professional Damages

If you lost income, earning power, professional opportunities, bonus opportunities, or other professional benefits due to someone’s negligence, your lawyer will include such professional damages in your case.

Many case types, including auto accident cases, also involve property expenses. Your lawyer will make a detailed accounting of each of your damages.

Hire Your Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Every personal injury case is time-sensitive, so don’t wait to find your attorney. Once you hire your lawyer, simply focus on your recovery while they lead the fight for your financial recovery.

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