You suffered injuries in a Missouri car accident, and you know you need an attorney to help you get compensation. However, you may worry about how much a car accident lawyer costs. Don’t fret. Hiring a lawyer to handle your car accident injury case won’t cost you anything unless the lawyer recovers damages for you. You will have zero financial risk. Either the lawyer will obtain money for you, or you won’t owe a penny for the lawyer’s services. Additionally, most personal injury attorneys offer free consultations, so you have nothing to lose by contacting an experienced Cape Girardeau car accident lawyer and learning of your options for pursuing compensation for your car accident injuries.
Car Accident Lawyers Work on Contingency
Car accident lawyers represent injured crash victims on a contingent fee basis. Instead of charging for legal services upfront or by the hour, they work in exchange for a percentage of the money they recover for their client. They take all the risk, in other words, because they only get paid by delivering results. Here’s how it works.
The Contingent Fee Percentage
At the beginning of any legal representation, a lawyer and client must enter into a fee agreement (or retention agreement), which is a contract spelling out in plain English the work the lawyer has agreed to perform and how the lawyer will get paid. The standard fee agreement in car accident injury cases says the lawyer will receive an agreed percentage of any money obtained for the client. That percentage constitutes the lawyer’s only fee for work on the matter.
The size of the contingent fee percentage varies case to case. Some fee agreements provide different percentages depending on the amount of work or length of time the case may take. For example, a contract might entitle the lawyer to less money if they secure a settlement before a trial but more from a trial jury.
Whatever the percentages, the agreement will spell them out clearly and in advance so that the lawyer and client both know precisely when and how the lawyer can collect a fee.
Case-Related Expenses
The fee agreement will also detail payment of case-related expenditures, such as expert witness fees, court filing costs, and travel expenses. Clients can agree to cover those amounts if they want, but many lawyers will offer to pay them and receive reimbursement from any recovery. Again, whatever they decide, the fee agreement will spell out the arrangement so there’s no misunderstanding.
Case Resolution and Payment
If the lawyer does well, the car accident case will eventually resolve in the client’s favor. The most common resolution is a settlement in which the client receives payment from an at-fault party or insurance company in exchange for releasing them from further liability. Absent a settlement, the lawyer could win the case by obtaining a favorable ruling from a judge or an award from a jury.
Once the lawyer has achieved a favorable resolution of the case, the liable party will typically send its required payment to the lawyer’s client trust bank account. That’s an account that holds money belonging to the lawyer’s clients.
The lawyer deducts the agreed percentage from the amount deposited in the trust account as a fee and, if previously agreed, receives reimbursement of any funds advanced for case-related expenses. Then the lawyer sends the remainder to the client or others at the client’s direction.
The Importance of Contacting a Lawyer Immediately
Hiring a lawyer won’t cost you anything upfront. But even though they face no financial risk, some people hesitate to hire a lawyer immediately because they think there’s no harm in waiting. That’s a mistake.
Hire a lawyer as soon as you can. To make the most of your claim, a lawyer needs as much time as possible to gather evidence, evaluate options, and pursue actions that protect your rights. Plus, deadlines almost certainly apply to your case. If you wait too long to hire a lawyer, they could expire and rob you of your ability to demand compensation from at-fault parties and insurance companies.
Talking to an experienced legal team about your car accident case is easy. All reputable car accident attorneys offer free consultations to people in your situation and make themselves available at your convenience. You can use the consultation to learn about your options and get a feel for the attorney who might handle your claim. You’ll never be charged for a car accident claim consultation, even if you decide not to hire the lawyer who meets with you.
The Work a Car Accident Lawyer Performs for a Contingent Fee
Working on a contingent fee basis doesn’t change a lawyer’s obligations to protect your interests and pursue your rights to compensation. You don’t get less of a lawyer or fewer services when you hire a car accident lawyer to handle your case on contingency. A car accident lawyer typically agrees to take care of every aspect of seeking payment for your losses, no matter what challenges your case throws their way.
Here are just some of the services a car accident lawyer working on contingency may perform.
Accident Investigation and Evidence Collection
A car accident lawyer investigates how your car accident happened and who was to blame. The goal is to identify as many parties as possible who may have a legal duty to compensate you for your losses, and to collect the evidence needed to establish their liability and the amount they should pay.
Evidence to support your claim may take many forms. An experienced lawyer knows where to look for it and how to obtain it. For example, a lawyer may need to get video footage of the accident from security cameras at neighboring properties, data from a driver’s cell phone, or photographs of the crash scene taken by first responders. A lawyer may also need to track down eyewitnesses and interview them before their memories fade.
Every car accident investigation presents unique challenges. A skilled lawyer knows how to turn them into opportunities for building and strengthening your case for compensation.
Evaluation of Your Damages
Car accidents can cause considerable physical, emotional, and financial damage. An experienced lawyer can evaluate your losses and collect evidence to support a claim for maximum compensation. Crash victims often express surprise at learning just how much money they can get for the harm they suffered. A skilled attorney can often build a case to obtain payment for:
- Medical expenses related to treating a crash-related injury and any health complications it causes.
- The cost of repairing or replacing a damaged vehicle or other personal property.
- Other out-of-pocket expenditures tied to the accident or the injuries you suffered.
- Lost income and job benefits due to missing work, including paid-time-off used.
- Loss of future earning opportunities due to a temporary or permanent disability.
- Physical pain and discomfort resulting from an injury or medical treatments.
- Emotional distress and mental health struggles like PTSD or anxiety.
- Inconvenience and diminished quality of life.
- Challenges associated with living with scarring, disfigurement, or loss of bodily function.
A lawyer can also evaluate whether the at-fault party engaged in actions sufficiently extreme or intentional to justify a claim for punitive damages. At every opportunity, a lawyer looks for ways to maximize the compensation you can receive. After all, the more money the lawyer can get for you, the greater the lawyer’s contingent fee in most cases.
Working with Experts
Expert witnesses often play a critical role in proving a car accident claim. For example, a medical expert might write a report and give testimony about the extent of your injuries and their impact on your life. Similarly, a forensic expert might evaluate evidence from the crash scene to formulate an opinion about the cause of the accident and who should bear the blame.
With the help of those experts, lawyers can bolster your case for compensation. Many skilled car accident lawyers have established relationships with trustworthy experts whose testimony can convince an insurer or jury to award you maximum payment.
Handling Insurance Issues
Car accidents almost always trigger coverage under an insurance policy, usually more than one. The party at fault often carries insurance to pay their liability for your losses. You may also have insurance that covers some of your expenses.
Insurance companies have a legal duty to pay covered claims. But that doesn’t mean they do so willingly or automatically. Often, insurers will instead try to find a reason to justify refusing to pay you what they owe for your losses. And they sometimes resort to underhanded tactics, like asking you questions designed to trick you into saying something that damages your rights or offering you a lowball settlement in hopes you’ll accept less than what you deserve.
Lawyers protect you from insurance companies and their efforts to avoid responsibility for your losses. An attorney usually takes over all interactions with insurers on your behalf, serving as your representative in preparing and submitting your claim, responding to requests for additional information, and negotiating settlements. Once you have an attorney, the phone calls from insurance adjusters stop, and you gain the peace of mind of knowing your rights are protected.
Litigation
Obtaining compensation for your car accident losses sometimes requires litigation, which means pursuing a lawsuit in court. Litigation involves submitting a claim for damages to a court and following procedural rules designed to assist the parties in evaluating, arguing, and resolving their dispute.
A car accident claim that goes to litigation won’t necessarily end up in a full-blown trial. Many litigated car accident cases settle while a lawsuit is pending. But a trial is always possible, so it’s crucial to hire a lawyer with years of experience and a demonstrated track record of favorable results in car accident claims.
Skilled car accident lawyers know the ins and outs of litigation. While working on contingency, they can manage every phase of a litigated case and use court procedures to develop and present the most convincing arguments possible.
Settlement Negotiation
Achieving a favorable settlement of a car accident claim doesn’t happen automatically. It requires a well-supported case, a keen sense of timing, an accurate perspective on claim value, and a sensitivity to the arguments and pressure points that convince an insurance company or at-fault party to agree to pay the maximum.
Car accident lawyers spend many of their days honing settlement negotiation skills. With that experience comes the capacity to size up claims and opposing parties and to get results in even the most challenging situations. With a skilled lawyer in your corner, you stand the strongest possible chance of receiving a settlement offer that compensates you appropriately for your losses.
Advice and Counseling
Car accident lawyers also serve as trusted advisors and counselors to their clients. They have represented dozens of people in your situation and have helped them overcome obstacles and get their lives back on track. A lawyer can do the same for you by helping you weigh consequential decisions and plan for your future. Many car accident victims find the advice and guidance a lawyer provides during a difficult time of their lives to be at least as valuable as the money a lawyer gets for them.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Injury Lawyer Today
Cape Girardeau Car Accident Attorney, Phillip J. Barkett
Do not allow financial worries to keep you from contacting an experienced car accident lawyer who can handle your claim. Car accident attorneys handle claims on contingency so that anyone who needs their services can afford them. An accident lawyer will not charge you upfront fees or bill you by the hour. You’ll only pay the lawyer if they win for you.
Plus, hiring a lawyer to take care of your car accident claim has numerous substantial benefits. You can focus your time and energy on healing from your injuries while a Cape Girardeau personal injury lawyer handles getting you compensation for your losses. So don’t wait another minute. Contact an experienced car accident injury lawyer today for your free case consultation.