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Consider Legal Fees Before You Choose a Lawyer
by: treatrea
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Can you afford to file and fund a lawsuit? What if you need to go to court? Can you afford legal fees?
When you are considering a personal injury lawsuit, a medical malpractice lawsuit, or any one of a number of other types of legal action, you are no doubt concerned about getting the best lawyer.
You probably know that lawyer's fees can vary and that a good attorney can cost a lot of money. Depending on the kind of case you want to file, you may be able to reduce your legal fees, fund the fees for your lawsuit or postpone these fees until the case is settled.
Here are some things you'll need to know in order to consider your options:
Most attorneys charge by the hour. A more experienced attorney will charge more than a lawyer who is just starting out and, in a law firm, a partner or senior associate will charge a lot more than a junior attorney or associate.
Furthermore, your fees for consultation time may be charged at a different hourly rate than time spent in the courtroom or in discussions with a judge or other lawyers. The attorney will also charge a fee for the time her legal assistants spend on research, etc.
Talk to your prospective lawyers about other lawsuit funding and legal fee structures to see what the best option may be for you.
If your case relates to personal injury, medical malpractice, or workers' compensation you may have a good chance of getting your lawyer to agree to a contingency fee - that is a fee that is paid based on a percentage of the settlement amount (the money you get from the court settlement).
Lawyers will decide whether a contingency fee is appropriate based on the evidence they have and how likely they think it is that they can win the lawsuit.
IF you lose the lawsuit and your lawyer has accepted a contingency fee structure to fund the lawsuit, he will get NOTHING. If you win the lawsuit, he will get the negotiated percentage of your settlement amount.
You can try to get your lawyer to agree to a lower percentage of the settlement total if he can negotiate a settlement out of court. Since she will have less work to do than if she had to prepare for a trial, she may agree to this modification to the legal fee structure.
The second consideration to fund a lawsuit applies to those people who are filing a suit against a company or industry because of the hidden health risks of working in a particular industry or handling a particular material. For patients with mesothelioma, asbestos related illnesses, or damage from exposure to toxins on the job, the first order of business is to investigate class actions.
There may already be a law firm or firms pursuing actions for others in the same situation. In a class action suit, there is strength in numbers and the law firm often structures the funding and the legal fees under the assumption that the class action settlement will be in the millions and will therefore give them plenty of compensation. Most participants in a class action suit pay no legal fees upfront. The fees are usually taken out of the total settlement before it is distributed to the group of class action plaintiffs.
If none of these scenarios apply to you and you still have a significant need for an attorney, get references from friends and business associates and interview these attorneys. Be honest with them about your financial situation and ask them what funding or legal fee structure they might offer to help you defray expenses until there is a settlement. And think about what you will do to pay your lawyer's fees if you do not win the suit.
Suits that have a public appeal or may appeal because of civil rights or discrimination issues may also be attractive to agencies or organizations that deal in these issues. Don't hesitate to talk to these organizations to find out if they can help you fund the legal fees in exchange for your participation in press or public events that may advance the cause.
About the Author
Can you afford to pay legal fees for a lawsuit? Find out everything you need to know about lawsuit funding and legal fee structures by visiting our web site: Lawsuit-Funding
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