How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
When a person is injured in an accident, expenses like medical bills and lost wages can mount quickly, and leave the injured party and their family in a very precarious financial position.
For this reason, many accident victims try to recover financial compensation without the help of a personal injury attorney since they fear the added financial expense of paying for an attorney’s services.
However, what they may not realize is that most personal injury lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis (explained in detail in the section below), and that by not working with an attorney, they are most likely losing a great deal of money due to inexperience working with insurance companies and New Jersey personal injury law.
If you or a loved one has been injured in any kind of accident resulting from the reckless or negligent actions of another party, here is what you need to know about how you can hire and work with an experienced Passaic County personal injury attorney, and only have to pay for their services in the event that a recovery is ultimately secured.
Contingency Fees and Our Clifton Personal Injury Lawyers
The simplest way to explain contingency fees is to say that whether or not you pay for your personal injury lawyer (and the various expenses they cover for your personal injury claim such as expert testimony and court fees) is “contingent” upon your attorney securing a recovery. If no recovery is made, you don’t owe your attorney anything.
If you choose to work with a personal injury lawyer on a contingency fee basis, before you officially retain their counsel you will need to agree on exactly how their contingency will work. For example, they may charge a flat percentage of whatever recovery they secure for you, or you may choose to set up a “sliding scale” contingency fee where you pay a different percentage depending on the total recovery.
Paying for a Personal Injury Attorney in New Jersey
Importantly, each state in the U.S. has its own contingency fee rules and caps (meaning the maximum total percentage your injury attorney can charge as a contingency fee).
Of course, one of those rules is that you do not have to work with your attorney on a contingency fee basis. If you have the resources to pay for their services up front, this is also an option.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, New Jersey contingency fees are capped at 33 1/3%, one of the lowest in the country! While this may seem like a lot at first glance, consider that many times the simple fact of having an attorney working for you can more than make up for this cost, and many times prevent you from saying or doing something which would reduce your total recovery or worse stop you from making a recovery at all.
Contact Our Passaic County Personal Injury Attorneys Today
At The Law Office of Fredson & Statmore, our attorneys have extensive experience helping clients and their families to recover full and fair compensation for accident injuries of all kinds in towns across New Jersey and Passaic County, including Clifton, Wayne, Paterson, Little Falls, West Milford, and Woodland Park.
Whether you have been injured in a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, a slip and fall, on a poorly maintained or dangerous property, by a defective product, or any other kind of accident resulting from the reckless or negligent actions of another party, we are ready to put our track record of success and attentive and effective service to work for you and your family today.
To speak with our legal team today in a free and confidential consultation regarding your accident and injuries, how our firm can help you to make a recovery, or to discuss our firm’s contingency fee and operating policies, please contact us online.