Personal injury lawyers get paid in the form of contingency fees. Under contingency fee arrangements, the lawyers don’t get paid until they win your case. Their fee is a percentage of the compensation they recover for you. Below, you’ll learn more about how contingency fees work for attorneys.
For help with your personal injury case in Chicago, contact Robert Smoler at 312-332-9800.
Understanding How Personal Injury Lawyers Structure Their Fees
Lawyers have different attorney fee structures. The most commonly used are hourly rates, retainers, and contingency fees.
Under the hourly fee structure, you pay your lawyer for the time he or she spends on your case. What happens in a personal injury lawsuit affects the hourly rate, with more complex cases commanding higher rates. The average lawyer hourly rate in Illinois was $305 in 2023. A retainer fee requires you to pay an upfront fee to retain the lawyer’s services. The lawyer will then bill legal costs against the retainer while working on your case. Lawyers usually charge an hourly or retainer fee when representing a defendant in a personal injury case. A personal injury lawyer representing a plaintiff will typically use a contingency fee structure.
What Is a Contingency Fee?
This personal injury lawyer payment structure doesn’t require you to pay upfront fees to receive legal services. You’ll only pay when your lawyer obtains compensation on your behalf after successfully negotiating a settlement or winning your case at trial. The lawyer usually receives 25% to 40% of the compensation recovered.
Paying a personal injury attorney after a settlement or verdict has several advantages. You don’t pay any legal fees if the attorney doesn’t secure a settlement or verdict. You also won’t have to keep worrying about how much to settle your personal injury case for, as your attorney will be motivated to work in your best interests and get maximum compensation.
Questions to Ask Your Chicago Personal Injury Attorney About Payment
While it’s important to ask questions about important aspects of your case, such as how causation works in an injury case, it’s also crucial to ask a Chicago personal injury attorney about costs, such as:
What Are Your Fees?
How personal injury lawyers get paid through contingency fees can vary from lawyer to lawyer. Be sure to ask about the details of a lawyer’s contingency fee, including the contingency fee percentage.
Do Your Fees Change?
Some attorneys charge higher contingency fee percentages in certain situations, such as when your case moves to trial. Make sure you ask about this to avoid surprises and conflicts later.
How Are Case-Related Expenses Handled?
Case-related expenses are not part of legal fees. Personal injury lawyers typically require you to pay for these expenses. Some lawyers will cover these expenses and then deduct them from your court award or settlement together with their legal fees.
Robert Smoler has over 25 years of experience handling personal injury cases and collecting compensation for satisfied clients in Chicago. Contact us today for a free initial consultation about your case.
