Car accident attorneys in Georgia usually charge a percentage of what they recover for their clients as their fee. This percentage should be agreed upon beforehand, often in your retainer agreement. You will typically only owe them money if they win your case.
Legal fees are a cause for concern for many people who suffer injuries in car accidents. Many victims don’t engage legal help out of a misguided fear that it is beyond their financial means during an already difficult time. However, most personal injury lawyers work on contingency, meaning they only charge a fee if they win. An experienced legal professional can also efficiently and effectively handle every aspect of your case while you focus on healing. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Will There Be Other Fees or Expenses I Might Have to Pay?
While the contingency agreement covers the attorney’s fees, some additional costs may come up during your case. These could include expenses for medical records, expert witness fees, court filing fees, and other administrative costs.
Your attorney should cover these costs upfront rather than asking you to pay for them. They will then take their total expenditures out of your final settlement or award before calculating their contingency fee. This arrangement ensures you do not have to pay any fees or costs out of pocket.
If an attorney asks you to pay for expenses upfront, you should view this as a red flag. Reputable personal injury attorneys will advance all case costs on your behalf.
What Is a Contingency Fee Agreement?
A contingency fee agreement is a type of fee arrangement used by attorneys in various legal practice areas. In a contingency fee agreement, a client pays nothing upfront to hire an attorney to represent them in a legal matter. This differs from hourly fee arrangements, where a lawyer bills their client for the time they spend working on their case. Instead, a lawyer working under a contingency fee agreement does not charge the client any legal fees unless and until they recover compensation – whether through a settlement of the case or by winning at trial. The lawyer typically receives an agreed-upon percentage of the total financial recovery obtained for the client.
Lawyers frequently use contingency fee agreements in personal injury cases, such as car accident claims. Although lawyers can use contingency fee agreements for other legal matters, laws or professional rules of conduct for the legal profession may prohibit them in certain circumstances.
Contingency fee agreements free clients from paying an upfront retainer to hire an attorney. This arrangement allows clients facing financial pressures, such as medical expenses resulting from accident injuries, to obtain legal representation without worrying about paying upfront.
Clients also don’t have to worry about paying the lawyer’s fee out of pocket in a contingency fee agreement, as it comes from the financial compensation they secure for the client. In most cases, the lawyer will receive the settlement check or payment from a judgment. They will then deduct their fee from the funds before forwarding the balance to the client.
Contingency fee agreements align the lawyer’s and client’s financial interests. Lawyers working under contingency fee agreements only get paid once they recover compensation for their clients, which motivates attorneys to work hard on a case. They are also encouraged to recover the most money possible. In an hourly fee arrangement, the attorney gets paid more by spending more time on a case. However, a lawyer working under a contingency fee arrangement can earn a higher fee by maximizing their client’s financial recovery.
What Services Are Included with a Contingency Fee?
Attorneys typically handle every aspect of a client’s case under a contingency fee agreement. In addition to providing legal representation and managing the payment of compensation recovered, lawyers also cover all case expenses, such as:
- Court filing fees
- Expert witness fees
- Deposition costs
- Records request fees
- Copying and printing expenses
- Travel costs
Depending on the terms of the lawyer’s contingency fee agreement, they may get reimbursed for costs for preparing and pursuing the case from the client’s financial recovery. Alternatively, some lawyers may agree to roll their case costs into the percentage of the client’s financial recovery they receive as their legal fee.
How Much Is the Typical Car Accident Lawyer’s Contingency Fee?
The percentage of a client’s financial recovery that a car accident lawyer may receive as their contingency fee will depend on various factors. These include:
- The geographic area where the lawyer practices
- The lawyer’s experience, track record, and reputation
- The stage of litigation the case reaches when the lawyer obtains compensation for the client
Contingency fees in car accident cases typically range from 33.3 to 40 percent. Some contingency fee agreements use a sliding scale where the percentage received by the lawyer increases as the case reaches various milestones, such as filing a lawsuit or taking the case to trial.
What Is an Example Scenario?
As an example of how contingency fee agreements work in car accident cases, suppose you were in a collision in Georgia. You hire a lawyer under a contingency fee agreement. The agreement entitles them to one-third of the total financial recovery they obtain for you before the case gets filed as a lawsuit and 40 percent if you win your case after filing a lawsuit. In a scenario where your lawyer negotiates a $60,000 settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance company, your lawyer will receive a fee of about $20,000, or 33.3 percent of your settlement. However, if your lawyer files a lawsuit and obtains a verdict for $100,000, your lawyer will receive a fee of $40,000, or 40 percent of your financial recovery.
In contingency fee agreements that entitle the lawyer to reimbursement for the costs involved with pursuing a car accident case, they might first receive reimbursement for their case expenses before splitting the proceeds with the client.
Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer?
Contingency fee agreements mean car accident victims have no upfront cost or financial risk when hiring an attorney to help them pursue financial compensation for their injuries and losses. A car accident lawyer can handle all the details of your case so you can focus on your physical and emotional recovery. Your lawyer will pursue maximum financial recovery for your ongoing and future expenses or losses by:
- Thoroughly investigating the car accident to recover all available evidence, including police crash reports, accident scene photos and videos, surveillance and traffic camera footage, and eyewitness statements
- Reviewing the facts and evidence to identify liable parties and evaluate your options for financial recovery
- Working with accident reconstruction, medical, and financial experts to build a compelling case supporting your right to compensation
- Documenting your injuries, disabilities, and ongoing and future losses to determine fair compensation
- Handling the claims process and settlement negotiations with the insurance company
- Pursuing maximum compensation for you, whether through a settlement or by taking your case to trial
An experienced car accident lawyer can keep you updated on your claim’s progress and provide informed legal advice at each stage of the process to help you make informed decisions on how to proceed with your case – including when to settle or take your case to trial.
Do All Lawyers in Georgia Work on a Contingency Fee Basis?
Georgia law does not require attorneys to work on a contingency fee basis. Many lawyers require some form of payment in advance when working on criminal defense or family law cases. However, most personal injury attorneys in Georgia operate on a contingency fee basis. This arrangement has several advantages for the client, including:
- Access to representation – Contingency fee agreements allow injured individuals to access high-quality legal representation regardless of their financial situation. Many people are forced into using up their savings or going into debt to pay injury-related medical bills and other expenses. Hiring an attorney on a contingency fee basis can help you pursue compensation for these expenses without going into additional debt.
- Motivation to win – Because the attorney only receives payment if they win your case, they will be motivated to work hard on your behalf. This means investigating the accident, translating what you’ve suffered into a dollar amount, negotiating with the insurance company, and filing any legal actions before the deadlines.
- Maximize compensation – Contingency fee agreements encourage attorneys to secure the maximum possible compensation. Because the attorney’s fee is a percentage of the final award, they will make more money if they obtain a larger financial package for you. In this regard, it’s a win-win situation.
Will the Fee Be Higher If My Case Goes to Trial?
Many personal injury attorneys in Georgia ask for a certain percentage of the client’s total compensation if they can reach a settlement with the insurer. If negotiations with the insurance company fail and litigation becomes necessary, the percentage may increase. However, the final terms of the agreement may require negotiation between the attorney and client at the beginning of the case. The most important thing to remember is that Georgia law requires an attorney to communicate the terms of their agreement with the client in advance, preferably in writing.
What Is the Average Settlement Amount for a Car Accident Case in Georgia?
Car accident settlements can vary significantly depending on the circumstances. When only minor injuries and property damage are involved, the settlement might be a few thousand dollars. For more severe injuries leading to long-term disabilities, settlements can amount to hundreds of thousands or well over a million dollars. As a general rule, you could be owed compensation for your:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income from missed time at work
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
A knowledgeable car accident attorney in Georgia can review your situation and give you an informed estimate of how much money you may be able to pursue.
How Long Might a Car Accident Case Take to Settle?
The duration of a car accident case can vary substantially based on the circumstances. Straightforward claims with clear liability may settle within a few months. However, negotiations could drag on for a year or more if the insurance company disputes fault or challenges the extent of your injuries and other losses.
Cases involving serious injuries that require long-term medical treatment and rehabilitation may take several years to resolve. Your attorney may need to wait until you reach maximum medical improvement before they can fully calculate your past and future losses.
Complex cases involving multiple vehicles and insurance companies, or those that go to trial, might also take longer to resolve. Your attorney should be able to provide you with a rough estimate of when your case may realistically settle based on their experience.
What Happens If My Car Accident Case Is Not Successful?
One advantage of hiring an attorney on a contingency fee basis is that you usually pay nothing if your case is unsuccessful. If the insurance company does not agree to a reasonable settlement offer and a judge or jury decides against you at trial, you will not owe any attorney’s fees.
Your attorney has a financial incentive to only accept cases they believe have a strong likelihood of success, so you can be confident they will do everything possible to build the strongest case on your behalf.
Contact a Georgia Car Accident Lawyer
The experienced team at Sherrod & Bernard, P.C., understands why many people are reluctant to hire a lawyer after a car accident. With so many expenses to consider, legal costs might seem impossible to justify. However, hiring one of our attorneys on a contingency fee basis can optimize your recovery at no up-front cost to you. We also offer free consultations during which we will listen to you compassionately and give you a frank evaluation of your case’s chances. And if we take your case, you can be confident that we will fight for your rights so you can get your life back on track.
Contact us today for your free consultation with a Georgia car accident lawyer, and let us get to work for you.
