When the lawyer’s fee is tied to the outcome of a case. If the client wins the case, the client pays his or her lawyer a percentage or other agreed-upon portion of the settlement. If a client loses, the client doesn’t pay.
Contingency fees can prevent prohibitive upfront costs and allow for greater access to justice, particularly for individuals who cannot afford a lawyer or the many resources that the injury law firm can draw from to advance their claims for compensation.
Essentially, the lawyer does not get paid until the client gets paid. This encourages lawyers to work very hard for their clients. The lawyer makes more as the client makes more, so there is an incentive to get as much fair compensation as possible.
What makes our contingency retainer especially appealing is that the “no fee” includes disbursements incurred to advance your case. Most often, disbursements total several thousands of dollars in expert’s fees (doctors, medical specialists, engineers, reconstruction reports etc.). We incur these expenses to advance and build the client’s case. We are not shy about getting the best expert support for our client’s cases and that can be very expensive. Once we’ve taken on your case the disbursements are incurred at the law firm’s risk meaning if you do not win or settle then the disbursements are also waived and you do not have to pay them.
