Personal Injury Attorney Fees
Personal Injury Attorney Fee, 40%?
Does that sound high for serious personal injury case? It’s just for the total recovery award.
As a former PI attorney, the only time I ever asked for 40% (as opposed to the standard (33%) was when I thought the case was a long shot. I was always very careful to explain that to my client so that they understood that I was taking a risk on their behalf.
You may ask the attorney if that is their standard contingency fee or if there are other factors which have gone into the 40%. If it looks like it will be a long, hard, and risky case with a high possibility that the attorney may work for years and end up with nothing, 40% is reasonable.
Remember, a contingency fee is a benefit and a risk to both the attorney and the client.
For the attorney, they may work 10 years and put 100,000 hours into a case and end up with nothing. Or they may make one phone call and end up with 40% of a million dollars. You never can tell.
For the client, your benefit is that you don’t have to pony up a big retainer (up to $10,000 is not uncommon) and pay anywhere from $100 to $500 per hour depending on the type of case and the experience of the lawyer. The downside is that your lawyer may be able to get it resolved in 10 minutes and you now have to pay him or her 40% of what you get.
Columbus, Ohio Personal Injury Lawyers | Donahey Law Firm
