How Much Do Accident Lawyers Charge?

How Much Do Accident Lawyers Charge?

Aug 5, 2019

So, you’ve been involved in an accident, and unfortunately there’s been one or multiple injuries, serious damage, or another complicated twist that keeps this from being just a fender-bender. After thinking about the situation and getting advice, you’ve realized it’s time to shop around for some accident attorneys. But one nagging thought weighs on you: how much do car accident lawyers charge, anyway? 

Wrecked, But Not Broken

First of all, it’s important to remember that no matter how stressful things may seem, there’s always a course of action you can take. Even if you’ve been involved in a horrible accident involving life changing injuries or fatalities, you have options and avenues available to seek justice and move forward with your life.

At Dordulian Law, there’s a reason why we keep a licensed psychologist on staff. Being in a serious accident that requires intervention by accident attorneys can be a traumatic, complex, and stressful situation. On the other hand, choosing the right legal representation can take a lot of that anxiety off of your shoulders and help illuminate the clear path forward to resolution.

Understanding Legal Fees For Accident Situations

Many people who end up needing an attorney after an accident have never been in a position where they needed to retain legal counsel before. If that sounds like you, you’re probably nervous just thinking about the potential attorney fees that come along with quality representation.

You’ve heard all the horror stories about lawyer hourly rates and how in this country, a good attorney must only be available to the wealthy. Today, we’re not just going to dispel that myth: we’re going to shatter it completely.

How Much Do Accident Lawyers Charge?

OK, let’s get down to the real question here: what can you expect to pay if you need an attorney after a car accident or other mishap?

The reality is that every law firm approaches their fee structure differently. While it’s true that some firms charge a high price by the hour, you might want to consider looking instead for an accident law firm that’s confident enough to use a contingency fee structure.

What Is a Contingency Structure?

In the legal world, contingency means one thing for many clients: hope. It means that you don’t have to pay anything up front. Not a retainer fee, not an hourly fee, and not a deposit. No collateral, no credit cards, no second mortgage. No crushing debt, no asking friends and family for loans — nothing.

Contingency means that your attorneys only get paid on your case if they are successful in winning you a monetary award, whether that comes from a negotiated settlement or from actual courtroom litigation. As you may or may not know, most accident cases never actually see the inside of a courtroom. The vast majority are negotiated before it gets to that point, because a trial costs way more money for all parties and is incredibly time consuming for both sides.

An industry standard for contingency fees for accident cases is around 33%. That means that your attorneys, if successful, will take one third of your monetary award as payment for all the hard work they did up front for free. It’s a small price to pay for access to competent, active representation. And most importantly, it puts justice in the hands of anyone — from any walk of life — regardless of their financial circumstances at the time of the accident.

One thing to note, however, is that most law firms will up that amount from 33% to somewhere in the 40-45% range if the case is one of the rare ones that does actually go to trial. This is reflective of the huge increase in work required to prepare and execute an effective trial strategy on your behalf, compared to negotiating a settlement.

Justice For All

As you can see, a contingency fee structure is truly a beautiful thing. If you were under the misconception that only the rich and powerful could afford a good attorney to protect and represent their interests after an accident, now you know better. There are law firms like Dordulian Law Group out there who are willing to fight for you as hard as we can, for zero dollars up front.

Not only does that make justice something within your grasp no matter what tax bracket you’re in, it’s also representative of our confidence in our ability to win. We wouldn’t offer a contingency structure if we were in the business of losing cases for our clients very often.

If you were in an accident and believe you may be entitled to compensation as a result of your experience, it’s important that you contact the qualified attorneys at Dordulian Law Group sooner than later to preserve your best chance at receiving compensation. Now you know that you can afford quality accident attorney representation — so the only thing between you and justice is the courage to pick up the phone and dial our number.