(914) 220-1086If you have been injured in a car accident, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by everything that comes with it, such as getting your car repaired, going to doctor appointments, paying bills, and dealing with calls from insurance adjusters. Through these challenges, you might be aware that hiring a New York car accident attorney could help to protect your rights. But you might still have one big question: how much does a car accident lawyer cost?
Most car accident law firms work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they do not require any upfront payment. Instead, you will pay them a percentage of any money that you recover through settlement or a verdict at trial. Our White Plains personal injury attorneys will fight to get you maximum compensation for your injuries and will never charge a fee unless we recover money for you.
The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan fights for the rights of car accident victims throughout New York. Our goal is to provide the highest quality legal representation, all through contingency fee agreements, so you don’t have to worry about paying a retainer or an hourly fee. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation with a White Plains car accident lawyer.
How Much Does a Car Accident Lawyer Cost?
In most car accident claims, you won’t pay anything out of pocket to hire a lawyer. Car accident attorneys typically work through a contingency fee arrangement, which means:
- You do not pay anything up-front.
- You will not pay an hourly fee.
- Your lawyer will only get paid if they recover compensation for you.
Rather than billing by the hour, the attorney’s fee is calculated as a percentage of the settlement or verdict that you receive. If there is no recovery, you generally will not owe an attorney’s fee. This type of fee arrangement ensures that anyone, regardless of their financial status, can afford quality legal representation after a serious car accident.
A contingency fee is a type of legal fee agreement where the attorney’s payment is contingent (dependent) on the outcome of the case. In a car accident claim, this means that the lawyer will agree to represent you and will be paid for their work only if your case is successful.
Attorneys are usually paid in one of three ways:
- Hourly fees: A lawyer charges a set rate for every hour worked on your case. Clients are often required to pay a retainer, and the attorney will deduct their time from that amount as the case progresses. Hourly fee agreements are unusual in car accident cases.
- Flat fees: This type of fee agreement involves a set price for specific legal services. Flat fees are most common in specific types of cases, like basic estate planning or immigration cases. They are rarely used for car accident claims.
- Contingency fees: This type of fee arrangement is the most common for personal injury claims. The attorney is paid a percentage of the client’s total recovery, but is not paid if the case is unsuccessful. The client does not pay anything out of pocket. Instead, any fees are deducted from the settlement check from the car insurance company.
Contingency fees are used most often in car accident cases because accident victims often experience financial strain after a crash. They might have medical bills, car repairs, and lost wages. With a contingency fee, an accident victim can hire a New York car accident lawyer without any risk.
How Much You Can Expect to Pay a Car Accident Attorney?
In New York, the court system sets rules for contingency fee cases. A fee of 33 ⅓% is usually considered fair and reasonable. In some cases, attorneys may use a sliding-scale structure approved by the courts to set the contingency fee. The sliding scale will reduce the attorney’s fee percentage as the amount of the client’s recovery increases.
In practice, the way that contingency fee agreements work is fairly straightforward. You schedule a free initial consultation with a lawyer and agree to retain a law firm for your car accident case. You will not pay the law firm anything for any of the work that they do on your case until it is resolved.
If you recover money for your losses, the attorney’s fee is taken directly from that recovery. For example, if your case settles for $150,000 and the contingency fee is 331/3%, the attorney’s fee would be $50,000. You would not write a check for this amount. Instead, after your lawyer receives the check from the insurance company for you, they will deduct the $50,000 from it.
Importantly, litigation expenses are separate from an attorney’s fees. Typically, you will be responsible for expenses such as:
- Court filing fees
- Expert witness costs
- Deposition and transcript fees
- Investigation expenses
- Administrative costs, such as copying and postage
In most car accident cases, the law firm advances these costs for you. In other words, your attorney will cover all of these expenses. At the conclusion of your case, the expenses will be reimbursed from the settlement or the verdict.
All fees and expenses will be paid at the end of your case. If you don’t win, then you won’t pay an attorney’s fee. If you do recover money through a negotiated settlement or verdict at trial, then your attorney’s fee and any expenses will be paid from that amount.
Contingency fee agreements are a type of contract. Before hiring a New York car accident lawyer, you should always review the written fee agreement carefully so that you understand exactly how the fee will be calculated and what expenses you will be responsible for paying. You should also ask your attorney questions if there isn’t something that you don’t understand.
There are a lot of advantages to contingency fee agreements. Perhaps most importantly, these types of fee agreements allow anyone to hire a lawyer, regardless of their current financial situation. You don’t have to have thousands of dollars on hand to pay a retainer or the ability to pay large monthly bills based on an hourly rate. There is little to no financial risk with a contingency fee agreement.
Contingency fee agreements also align your interests with your lawyer’s interests. Think of it this way: when your attorney doesn’t get paid unless you do, and their fee is dependent on how much money you recover, their incentive is to get you as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. By comparison, the insurance company’s interests are to resolve your case for as little money as possible.
This brings up an important final point. Insurance companies have teams of adjusters and lawyers representing their interests. They do this every single day, and they are incredibly profitable because they’re good at finding ways to pay pennies on the dollar for car accident claims. Insurance companies use all sorts of shady tactics to try to get you to accept less than full value for your case or to deny your claim outright.
Studies show that people who are represented by counsel recover an average of 40% more than people who represent themselves. Having legal representation can help you recover more money and will also ensure that your rights are protected. The best way to protect yourself and get maximum compensation is by hiring a New York car accident lawyer to represent you.
Help from an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer
Few people know exactly what to do when they are in a car accident. While it might not be your first instinct, hiring a car accident attorney is an incredibly important step that you should take as soon as you are able to do so. Your lawyer won’t charge any money up front and will work hard to get you the compensation that you deserve for your losses.
Based in White Plains, the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan represents injury victims throughout New York across a range of personal injury matters. We know how the system works, and we use our knowledge of New York law and car insurance tactics to get our clients the largest possible recovery for their injuries. We will never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a New York car accident attorney, call our law firm at 914-220-1086 or fill out our online contact form.
