A lawyer who handles a successful personal injury case for you would usually receive around a third of the money you received in a settlement. If your case wasn’t successful, your lawyer wouldn’t get paid.
Your lawyer works to secure the most possible for your injury claim after an accident. It’s often far more than what you would earn if you had handled your case yourself. The goal is to earn more for the victim and more to compensate the lawyer. The lawyer gets a part of the settlement money to make up for the risk taken by representing you without a guarantee of payment.
What Happens When a California Lawyer Works on a Contingency Fee?
Maison Law, and many other California law firms, work most cases for a “contingency fee.” It means that the lawyer’s pay is based on the case being successful for the client. The contingency agreement is used instead of an hourly rate.
If the case fails, the lawyer doesn’t get paid. If the case is successful, the lawyer would receive somewhere around 33% of the settlement money provided to the victim or a judgment awarded in court. It’s an important way to ensure that all victims can afford quality legal care.
The way your lawyer gets paid and how much they receive should never be a mystery for clients. At Maison Law, you’ll know exactly what you’ll pay before you sign a fee agreement to hire our lawyers. If you ever have questions about the fee you’ll be paying, it’s important to ask before you sign off on a contract with a less-than-trustworthy attorney.
Why Do Lawyers Receive 33% of a Personal Injury Settlement?
Lawyers receive this fee because they usually front a lot of money to build a case for a client. They go without any assurance they’ll get paid for their work. It’s a way to make the level of risk more acceptable.
Lawyers accept some risk anytime they agree to work on a contingency basis. They cover the cost of the investigation into the accident. That can include the expense of expert witnesses and accident reconstruction teams. The time the lawyer and staff put into the case is also valuable and wouldn’t be compensated after an unsuccessful case. These are expenses that come out of the Law Firm’s resources and not the victim’s pocket.
Cases are unpredictable and judges and juries sometimes make unexpected decisions. Lawyers can lose cases through no fault of their own. A law firm can sink a lot of time and funds into a case, only to get nothing in return.
Contact a California Personal Injury Lawyer
Speak with a skilled California Personal Injury Attorney after any type of accident caused by someone else’s carelessness leaves you or a loved one with a serious injury. It’s important to know about every benefit available to you and your family because an insurance representative won’t inform you about all of your options.
Contact Maison Law for a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury is worth and what you should be holding an insurance company to.
