Whether you’ve recently been injured in an automobile accident or while on the job, one thing’s for sure: You should not have to suffer financially as the result of somebody else’s negligence. While a financial settlement might do little to minimize your physical suffering and pain, it can make the act of dealing with medical bills and lost wages a lot easier on a whole. Therefore, if your situation is such that a degree of monetary compensation is likely to be in order, then you’ll need to find an attorney who can fight for your rights and get you the settlement you deserve.
Of course, the act of finding the right personal injury attorney can be challenging unto itself. With so many lawyers out there all claiming to be best suited to represent your interests, it can be difficult to know which legal professional to choose. Should you hire the fancy lawyer with the giant billboard advertisement? Or should you opt for the smaller law firm that comes across as more sincere?
Robert Dewey of the Dewey Law Firm is a Charlotte, North Carolina, personal injury lawyer with over 30 years of experience under his belt, and he thinks that anyone in need of representation ought to consider hiring an attorney who works on a contingency fee basis. In fact, when it comes to clients, Dewey’s own philosophy is “no recovery, no fee.”
A contingency fee arrangement is one that involves having a lawyer represent you in exchange for a percentage of your settlement or verdict. While the specific percentage might vary from case to case and attorney to attorney, Dewey’s fee will never exceed one-third of the proceeds of a given personal injury case; and in many situations, his fee will be significantly less.
The benefit of hiring a personal injury lawyer who operates under a contingent fee basis is fairly straightforward: If you don’t win any money, then you won’t have to pay your attorney a dime. As a client, you have to admit that this sort of setup doesn’t come with much of a downside. Additionally, although you’d hope that a lawyer working for a flat fee would do his best for his clients nonetheless, any attorney who operates under a contingency fee arrangement is bound to go out of his way to get you the settlement you deserve; otherwise, he won’t get paid either. Therefore, when seeking out the right personal injury lawyer, you might want to focus on those who are willing to enter into contingent fee arrangements.
Of course, some feel that contingent fee agreements are not necessarily the best way to go. For such people, the idea of forking over a chunk of any given settlement just doesn’t sit well. If parting with a portion of your potential payout seems unfair to you, then consider the risk that a lawyer who agrees to a contingent fee is taking by handling your case. If your situation ends up working out in a manner that does not yield you any money, then you’ll be right back where you started – in the hole as far as your medical bills and expenses are concerned. However, as unfortunate as that might be for you, in such a situation, your lawyer will actually end up losing money as the result of having passed up other cases in order to represent you.
Remember, when a lawyer takes on a personal injury case, he doesn’t tend to do so alone. Most attorneys have staff members to pay, and it takes a certain amount of money to keep a legal practice running. Therefore, if you think that it’s unfair of an attorney to collect a portion of your settlement in lieu of a pre-arranged fee, then consider the amount of time that goes into researching and preparing for a single case. From seeking out precedents to finetuning arguments, personal injury lawyers don’t tend to skimp on the work front. So while it’s natural for you to want to hang on to as much of your settlement as possible, try to understand where most lawyers are coming from with respect to contingent fee agreements. As long as your attorney’s contingency fees are consistent with industry standards, there’s no reason to begrudge him his fair share.
The right personal injury lawyer can truly make or break a case, so if you’re looking for the best possible representation, then contact an experienced attorney who’s known for his fighting attitude and thorough approach. And if you happen to find a lawyer who is willing to accept a portion of your settlement as payment for his efforts and time, then you can rest assured that he’ll be especially certain to do whatever it takes to bring the matter to a satisfying close.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
