personal injury cases, lawyer fees

**keith** · 09-28-2008, 04:06 PM

There are a lot of commercials everywhere now for personal injury lawyers. Most of these lawyers claim that you "pay nothing unless you win, so if you've been in an accident, call..."

I had a conversation with a lawyer awhile back about this. Often these firms get thirty to forty percent of whatever you're awarded. The thing this lawyer pointed out is that for a lot of types of cases, there's a certain amount you might expect to get. Say you might expect $100,000 for something. If you hired an attorney for $1,000 to suggest what that amount might be, and to review settlement documents, you could be way ahead settling for $75,000 or $80,000. That's because you get $75k, minus $1k = $74k.

If you hire a personal injury lawyer and they get you $100,000, but they take $30,000 or $40,000 as their fee, you net only $60,000 to $70,000.

Regards,
Keith

Kens Digital Media · 09-29-2008, 12:22 AM

The point about not having to pay anything is what draws people in.

**keith** · 09-29-2008, 02:08 AM

Yes, the "free" draws them in - even though at 30 to 40% for the lawyer fees in personal injury cases, it is anything but free.

Regards,
Keith

**dgridley** · 09-29-2008, 11:04 PM

Great point.. and thanks for reminding people that "free" is not always the way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keith

Yes, the "free" draws them in - even though at 30 to 40% for the lawyer fees in personal injury cases, it is anything but free.

Regards,
Keith

**keith** · 09-30-2008, 06:12 AM

Now that I think about it, that initial conversation I mentioned wasn't with an attorney. I can't remember who it was, but it wasn't a lawyer sharing that inside knowledge about how it works...but if I found a lawyer that shared that kind of information, that's who I'd want to work with.

Regards,
Keith

**keith** · 10-11-2008, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keith

There are a lot of commercials everywhere now for personal injury lawyers. Most of these lawyers claim that you "pay nothing unless you win, so if you've been in an accident, call..."

I had a conversation with a lawyer awhile back about this. Often these firms get thirty to forty percent of whatever you're awarded. The thing this lawyer pointed out is that for a lot of types of cases, there's a certain amount you might expect to get. Say you might expect $100,000 for something. If you hired an attorney for $1,000 to suggest what that amount might be, and to review settlement documents, you could be way ahead settling for $75,000 or $80,000. That's because you get $75k, minus $1k = $74k.

If you hire a personal injury lawyer and they get you $100,000, but they take $30,000 or $40,000 as their fee, you net only $60,000 to $70,000.

Regards,
Keith

Just had a conversation with a lawyer who said something along the lines of this.

In this case, you get a $100,000 settlement check. The lawyer takes $33,000, one-third. Then the lawyer applies expenses to your amount - expenses for depositions, document copies and deliver, etc., etc., etc. which can add up to $$$.

Regards,
Keith