A reputable motorcycle accident lawyer would receive around a third of the award a rider got in an accident settlement. However, under a contingency agreement, your lawyer would only get paid if the case were successful.
Remember that under a contingency agreement, if your lawyer doesn’t win your case for you, you don’t owe the lawyer anything. Even after a successful claim, victims still wouldn’t have to pay a lawyer out of their own savings. The lawyer’s fee would be paid out of the settlement check the injured rider received.
Make Sure You Know How Your Lawyer Is Paid
You should never be left to wonder how your motorcycle accident lawyer will be paid. Before you sign a contract and hire a lawyer, you should be fully aware of the cost. You shouldn’t be confused about any aspect of payment.
Only select an attorney willing to go over the fee and how it’s paid. Your attorney should be happy to answer any questions you have. If you still are confused afterward, it may be a sign that you need to look for a different attorney.
How a Contingency Fee Works
Hiring a Lawyer
After taking advantage of a free case consultation, if you feel a lawyer can help you earn more for your injury, you may want to hire a lawyer to represent you. You would sign a contract and that should include a clear explanation of what you’ll pay and when.
The amount you owe your personal injury lawyer should never come as a surprise. When you sign the documents to allow a motorcycle accident lawyer to represent you, the paperwork will include a fee agreement. It describes how the lawyer would get paid, how much, and at what point in the process. If you have questions about what you are responsible for, you should ask your lawyer.
Paying a Lawyer
Maison Law is like a lot of other law firms in that we generally work on a “contingency fee” basis. It means our pay is contingent on us winning your case for you. There are no upfront charges and if we don’t win your case, we don’t get our fee. You wouldn’t pay anything.
If your case is won, most attorneys would receive around 33% of the money you received in a settlement agreement. In some cases, investigative costs would be deducted. The fees would be taken from a settlement check or court judgment award when it arrived at your lawyer’s office. Then the remaining amount would be provided to you.
Why Do Lawyers Receive a Third of My Accident Settlement Money?
To work on a contingency basis, lawyers must accept a lot of risk. They front the money to pay for the investigative work that goes into each case. They spend many hours building your case, retrieving documents, filing your claim, and negotiating with car insurance companies.
Cases can fall through for many reasons, and often the lawyer is not to blame. However, when this happens, the motorcycle accident victim isn’t charged. All of the financial investment in the case and the work hours spent preparing become the lawyer’s loss. It’s a financial risk lawyers must absorb.
For this reason, an appropriate fee is required on successful cases. This helps offset the lawyer’s work and the chance a lawyer takes with each case accepted.
Why Would I Need a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer After a Collision?
If your motorcycle accident only involves motorcycle damage and/or very minor injuries, you may not need the help of a lawyer to get fair treatment. But if your injuries are more serious and your medical bills are high, and a careless driver is to blame, a California motorcycle accident lawyer is a valuable protection for your case.
When doctor bills rise, car insurance companies work harder to find ways out of taking responsibility. Many insurance adjusters have no problem blaming motorcyclists for accidents they didn’t cause. A lawyer’s investigative work would produce the evidence needed to fight back against false accusations.
An insurer would also try to downplay the victim’s injuries. They’ll say the wounds aren’t that bad so they can get away with offering much less in an injury settlement than patients will need to pay all of their hospital bills. Adjusters can also use their in-house doctors to attempt to label the injury as pre-existing, saying the victim suffered the injury in a previous accident.
Your lawyer would be ready with medical documents and expert testimony to disprove these false attacks on your case. Your lawyer has evidence ready to force a driver’s insurance company to accept liability. Then a skilled lawyer with experience negotiating with massive insurance providers has the leverage to demand the maximum in compensation available for your family. A strong case can often help you earn much more in compensation than you could have secured on your own.
Contact a California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Speak with a skilled California motorcycle accident lawyer after any traffic collision caused by a careless driver that leaves you with a serious injury. It’s important to know about every benefit available to you and your family because an insurance representative won’t be informing you about 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 demand from reckless drivers and their unhelpful auto insurance companies.
