A personal injury case is one in which a person claims to have been harmed as a result of someone's intentional, reckless, or negligent act. Often these cases have the potential for recoveries of large sums of money. If you have suffered a severe injury, you may find that every attorney with whom you talk wants to represent you. You should not, however, become sidetracked just because a attorney wants your case. You need a personal injury attorney.
personal injury attorney
If your case is one in which damages' are potentially large, you need a attorney who does personal injury work on a regular basis, has a track record of success, and has a reputation for skill in the courtroom. Your attorney's reputation for prowess in court is extremely important. In one case, an insurance company extended a $300,000 settlement' offer to an injured man whose case was being handled by a attorney who did mostly business-related legal work and had not spent much time in the courtroom. The attorney, seeing a nice chunk of change on the table for little effort, recommended settlement. The client became suspicious, fired the attorney, and employed one whose practice emphasized personal injury litigation and who had a reputation for doing well at trial. With the new attorney working on the matter, the offer climbed steadily during the subsequent months, and the case finally settled for $850,000 a few days before trial.
personal injury attorney
Any attorney could have "won" a settlement of $300,000 in that case. But a skilled attorney with a good reputation was able to squeeze the defendant (in this case, backed by an insurance company) for nearly three times that amount. The personal injury attorney was clearly worth the fee he took from the settlement. Both attorneys had contracts with the client that contained contingency fee provisions of one-third of the net proceeds. With the help of a skilled trial attorney, though, the client took home $566,667 instead of $200,000.
Settlements are based on what the opposing parties and attorneys believe will happen at trial. If your attorney is young and has not established a reputation, such a prediction becomes difficult, and the settlement value of your case may be much lower than it would be were it placed with a attorney known for convincing juries to award large sums of money. A defense attorney may not feel compelled to make an attractive settlement offer to a attorney with no reputation for winning in court. In addition, an experienced attorney will do better at trial if the case does not settle. At trial, too, the age of the attorney can be a factor. A attorney with a few gray hairs may be more likely to win the respect and favor of a jury than one a bit younger. You should seek a attorney with the poise, believability, and charisma to attract jurors' votes.
personal injury attorney
When you first meet with your personal injury attorney, you will receive an attorney-client agreement establishing the relationship and the fee arrangement for the case. Normally it will be a contingency-fee contract, which means that the attorney is paid a percentage of the amount recovered in the matter. The contingency arrangement may provide for a fee as a percentage of the net proceeds, such as 33 1/3 percent of the recovery" after all expenses have been paid. Or it may be graduated, with possible fees ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent, depending on the time of settlement or disposition of the case at trial or on appeal. A contingency fee of 50 percent or more may be appropriate on collection cases or under other special circumstances.
personal injury attorney
You should insist that the contingency fee be calculated based on the net proceeds from the recovery. Many attorneys will resist this and will want to calculate the fees from the gross proceeds or to include a clause in the fee agreement to protect themselves if the expenses are greater than the recovery. In some states, though, attorneys are required to calculate their fees from the net proceeds. The net proceeds are the portion of the recovery that remains after deducting expenses such as expert witness fees, deposition charges, travel, filing fees, and the costs of special exhibits for trial. Ask your attorney to define net proceeds in the attorney-client agreement, and when the case is over, you should request a statement that sets forth all expenses in detail.
personal injury attorney
You should also request periodic expense reports as your case moves toward trial. In many jurisdictions, the client must pay the expenses even if there is no recovery at the end of the case, so it's important always to know where you stand. Some attorneys will try to get you to agree to pay part or all of the expenses as they become due. This may or may not be a reasonable request, depending on the situation, and if your attorney insists upon it, you will certainly want to compare the suggested approach with that of other attorneys in the same jurisdiction.
You should try to construct the fee agreement as a joint business venture between you and your attorney. Your attorney's willingness to invest time and money in your case is an indication that it has value. You must be careful, however, to follow the case closely, because excessive costs can also cause a cold-footed attorney to recommend settling prematurely. In some instances, it may be desirable to ascertain beforehand whether the law firm has enough money to proceed to the end of the case. It is not uncommon for a law firm to invest thousands of dollars of its own money in a meritorious personal injury case.
personal injury attorney
An insistence on your part that the law firm front expenses accomplishes two important goals for you. First, m a true partner with real money (not just time) invested in you case, your attorney will give your case high priority. If the attorney's money is involved, you can rest assured that your legal problem will not be ignored. Your attorney will want to recover the investment, with a profit, as soon as possible, and thus will be more likely to push you case to a conclusion.
personal injury attorney
Second, a attorney's willingness to invest in your case is an excellent indicator of the strength of your legal position. If you shop around and find that no attorney will represent you unless you make a deposit for expenses, you may want to refrain from taking legal action. attorneys are like other investors: if there is money to be made, they may gamble; but if the risk is too high or the reward too small, they may refuse to take a chance. Such a refusal is a red flag indicating that your case may not be a strong one. Be sure to consult with several attorneys, however, before you come to such a conclusion. In most scenarios, you will eventually pay the expenses because they will be taken from the recovery, but while the case is pending, your attorney should be willing to provide those funds.
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