What are the Benefits of Contingency Fees?

Any product or service that comes with no risk and a high chance of reward is something worth looking into and grabbing the moment it comes up. Imagine being able to hire a plumber and not paying them a cent if the job wasn’t completed to 100% satisfaction, or going into an upscale restaurant and only agreeing to pay for your meal if it was as delicious as advertised. While this might seem like a pipedream in many markets, such an agreement, called a contingency fee agreement, is the sign of a trustworthy personal injury attorney in the field of civil lawsuits.

Contingency Fees Explained

If you are shopping around for a personal injury lawyer to represent you in your car accident, slip and fall, or other such case, you may have already seen the term “contingency fee” spoken a few times. But what does it really mean? A lawyer who offers contingency fees does not charge an hourly rate for services, nor do they charge a flat-fee. Instead, they are paid a certain amount – agreed upon before hiring – only after the case has ended and only if they won a verdict or settlement for their client.

Some of the benefits to contingency fees are:

• No risk: Being able to recruit a professional lawyer without having to drop a large sum upfront for their help takes the stress out of the equation, and the no-win, no-fee aspect removes the risk. My San Fernando Valley personal injury firm, the Law Offices of Joel Parker, offer free case evaluations to completely take away the chance of you paying for services you find unsatisfying.
• Nothing out-of-pocket: When you retain a lawyer who works for contingency fees, you will first agree to a contingent percentage, usually ranging from 25% to 40%. If a contingency fee lawyer wins your case, they gain an amount of your verdict or settlement winnings as payment for their representation that is equal to the predetermined contingent percentage; this percentage is generally lower for straightforward cases and higher for complex ones. This means that you never have to worry about paying for a lawyer from your own finances, or paying them more than what you can afford.
• Motivation: The more you win in a personal injury lawsuit, the more your lawyer who works for contingency fees is paid. This “bigger paycheck” translates directly into added motivation for your attorney to go the extra mile and close your case with maximized compensation. Oppositely, a lawyer that charges hourly might be motivated to work slower on the case to get more money, or a flat-rate fee attorney may experience no motivation at all because they know they’re being paid no matter what.

If you have more questions about contingency fees and how they pertain to your own personal injury, I would be happy to explain them to you in more detail. Just call 888.763.9578 to reach me, San Fernando Valley Personal Injury Attorney Joel Parker, and set up your own free initial consultation.