How Much Will a Car Accident Lawyer Cost You?

A car accident can be a very stressful experience. The repercussions of the event can dishevel your life. A major car crash not only causes you physical injuries and results in property damages but also impacts you mentally. The hardships can make your life complex. Victims face a loss in quality of life, a huge gap in employment, or a fall in the confidence level. 

It’s understandable that after a serious car crash, you may not be in your right state of mind. Your mind is clouded, and your body is in shock. After checking for injuries and seeking emergency medical care, you should contact a car accident lawyer. 

One of the most crucial and basic factors while choosing a car accident lawyer is affordability. Before finalizing anything, you should know the cost details of hiring a car accident lawyer to make an informed decision. 

Here are the details of how much a car accident lawyer can cost you.

Car Accident Lawyers Fees

A victim in a car accident doesn’t deserve to bear the dire physical, emotional, and financial hardships. To safeguard the interest of the victims, Florida Statute 768.81 has declared that the victims have the right to recover their loss through compensation from the party that caused the damages in the accident. 

Most of the lawyers offer services on the contingency - fee agreement which depends on your compensation money.

What is a Contingency Fee?

A majority of personal injury lawyers Fort Myers charge contingency fees. In this fee arrangement, you are liable to pay the fee to your lawyers only when or if you recover money from the defendant or the insurance company. There is no involvement of up-front fee. If the lawyer fails at winning your case and recovering your compensation, you do not owe them any fee. 

If the lawyer helps you win the case and you get the compensation, you have to pay the pre-negotiated percentage of your settlement. The industry standard of the percentage varies, but expect it to be between 20-50% of your total compensation amount. 

You and your car accident lawyers need to create an agreement in a case where a contingency fee basis prevails. The rules of the agreement include -

The agreement must be in writing and not oral.

It must include how the percentage is calculated. It must also include settlement fees, pre-litigation settlement, trial, appeal, or any litigation related to the case.

The costs that will be deducted from the compensation amount. Also, mention whether the costs are calculated before or after the contingent fee is calculated

A written statement of the outcome of the case, the award, and the calculations that were computed after the settlement is done. 

There are more billing methods employed in the legal world. However, they are followed less commonly by car accident lawyers.

Hourly Option

Hourly billing is generally employed by car accident lawyer Fort Myers. In such billing methods, regardless of whether you win the case or not, you need to pay the fees of the lawyers at an hourly rate. You can discuss the hourly rates based on the lawyer’s experience and skills. 

Flat Fee Agreements

In such cases, the lawyer charges a fixed fee for a certain amount of time, legal advice, or work. It prevails when you hire an attorney for a specific task.

Retainer Plus Contingency

It is a hybrid approach where you pay a retainer amount to your lawyer at the beginning of the case. It’s like an advance you pay to the lawyers. If you win, the lawyers get the decided percentage of compensation after subtracting the retainer amount. 

Other Expenses

There can be additional expenses in your litigation process that a lawyer may charge from you. Talk to your personal injury lawyer Fort Lauderdale  about such expenses beforehand as they can quickly add up to cost you thousands of dollars. It may involve the following expenses -

Documents (copies of medical records and police reports);

Expert Witness Reports;

Court costs, including transcript copies;

Process Servers;

Deposition expenses;

Staff (court reporters, paralegals, interpreters, etc.);

Postage and mailing;

Administrative costs for things like legal research, copying, postage, and trial exhibits.

Hiring an experienced car accident lawyer is vital to recovering your loss. Talk to your lawyer in advance about all the details of the costs to not allow room for complications later. 

If you need assistance from a car accident lawyer Fort Lauderdale, Wolf & Pravato can help you. We serve our clients dedicatedly to help them win. Book our free attorney consultation right now.