Suffering a personal injury is never easy. You may experience significant physical and emotional distress. Your injury may cause permanent disability or loss of enjoyment of life. You may also undergo property damage in the process. We know that meeting with an attorney may be the last thing you want to deal with right now. The process may seem intimidating, and you may not even be sure your case is severe enough for a lawyer to handle.

However, many injuries have lifelong effects that may lay latent for some time. Therefore, it is in your best interest to act as soon as possible in order to ensure you maintain your quality of life. If you have suffered a personal injury, it is crucial that you seek out medical and legal counsel as soon as possible. You want to act immediately before your statute of limitations runs out.

You may be asking yourself how you will be able to pay for all this. Too many victims do not seek out the damages they are owed because of their misconceptions. Contrary to popular opinion, seeking out a personal injury attorney does not have to be a costly affair. If you are seeking out monetary damages in your personal injury case, it may cost exponentially less than you expect.

How Are Attorney Fees Handled in a Personal Injury Case?

As hard as it is to be a victim of personal injury, there is one bright side: You may not actually have anything to lose. Many law firms advertise with some version of the line “We don’t get paid unless you get paid.” You may have thought that that sounded too good to be true, but believe it or not, it is not just a snappy marketing line—it really is true. In most cases of personal injury, attorneys operate under a contingency fee instead of collecting any attorney fees.

A contingency fee is a fancy way of saying that your attorney will collect a percentage of your winnings. In most cases, this is around 30%. However, this usually only applies in cases where you are looking to collect monetary damages. Most personal injury lawyers will not ask for you to pay any attorney fees in advance. If you do not win your case, you will not have to pay your lawyer anything. However, you will still need to pay any filing fees and associated costs.

Your lawyer will be entitled to a percentage of any money they recover for you. This includes money recovered from any and all opposing parties, their insurance policies, and any other insurance policies you may be entitled to collect from as a result. This makes personal injury cases among the least costly for victims to pursue.

What Happens After Everyone Gets Paid?

Rather than “We don’t get paid unless you get paid,” the contingency fee system may be better described as “no recovery, no fee.” This means that certain circumstances may require you to repay money that a third-party pays on your behalf. However, even this is not likely to be a huge loss for you, as it will usually come out of the money you recover.

The sort of third-party you are most likely to repay will be an insurance company or healthcare provider. It may even be the government or an employer, depending upon your healthcare plan. In such cases, you will be paying a lien or subrogation right. Subrogation refers to the payments you sometimes have to make out of your winnings.

Taking Care of the Case Costs

In legal terms, a cost is any case-related expense that is not directly related to your attorney fees. Common costs in personal injury cases may include independent medical examiners, expert witnesses, or transcription of a hearing or deposition. The average total case costs you can expect to pay varies on a case-by-case basis and are best left to be discussed between you and your lawyer. You may want to consider bringing this up during your initial consultation.

Your attorney may ask you to pay some costs directly. They may also pay these expenses on your behalf, keep a record of such costs, and take them out of recovery at the end of the case. If a lawsuit has been filed, it is also possible that courts will make one side pay all or a part of the other party’s attorney fees and costs. In any case, a good lawyer should be able to discuss cost-related matters with you in advance so you know exactly what to expect.

Seeking Out Damages

Contingency fees empower victims to seek out any damages they are owed without having to worry about any extraneous financial pressure. Many individuals do not have the means to pursue a personal injury case in any other way. Contingency fees minimize the risk of financial liability on behalf of the victim. They may also facilitate your lawyer in evaluating your claim more deeply. However, you may feel more comfortable opting to pay a retainer and hourly rate instead. Fortunately, this is also an option that all attorneys are obligated to offer you.

If you or a loved one have recently been suffering from personal injury, do not hesitate in seeking out the help of a qualified personal injury lawyer today. The attorneys at Injury Victim Law are here to assist victims nationwide, no matter the context in which your personal injury occurred. Whether you have suffered from a car accident, workplace accident, nursing home negligence, or anything in between, we know just how to tackle your case. Although we are a Colorado-based firm, our team of experts and investigators can work for you no matter where you are in the United States. Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation with one of our seasoned attorneys. Personal injury can change your life. We can help make sure you maintain your quality of life and collect the damages you are owed. The sooner you act, the more we can help you.