[ Ссылка ] -- A car accident lawyer can help you fight with the insurance companies and receive compensation for your injuries after a car accident. If you’ve been injured in a car crash, you probably know that a car accident lawyer can help you, but you might be worried about how much it will cost you and if you can afford it. Here’s a guide.

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What is the average cost of a car accident lawyer?
The majority of car accident lawyers take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis instead of charging an hourly fee. There are no up front costs to you. With a contingency fee, your attorney doesn’t get paid unless they secure compensation for you. Once your settlement or award is received, the attorney fees are reduced from that award by the predetermined percentage in the power of attorney contract.

How does a car accident lawyer get paid?
While contingency fee agreements are common practice for car accident lawyers, in some car accident cases you will have to pay an initial retainer upfront. Some lawyers will require a retainer when a client hires them and also collect a contingency fee at the end of the case.

In this type of contingency fee arrangement, the retainer already paid will be subtracted from the contingency fee once your compensation is received. For example, if you paid a $3,000 retainer when you hired the attorney and agreed to a 33% contingency, the $3,000 will be subtracted from 33% of the final settlement or award, so that you only have to pay 33% total in attorney fees.

Case Expenses
In addition to attorney fees, you may have to pay some “case expenses”. These expenses are the administrative and other costs incurred by the attorney in pursuing your case.

Common examples of case expenses include:

Postage
Costs of obtaining medical records
Court filing fees
Expert witness fees
Court reporter fees
Many car accident lawyers will pay for case expenses up-front, and then deduct the amount from your final recovery. It’s important to understand that case expenses are additional expenses on top of attorney fees, so these costs won’t be deducted from a contingency fee as a retainer might be. This means you’ll be responsible for paying your full contingency fee, plus whatever case expenses are owed.

Contingency
Some car accident lawyers will charge contingency fees on a “sliding scale”, which means you will have to pay a different percentage depending on whether your case goes to court or not.

A typical sliding scale contingency fee agreement may look like this:

You will pay 33% if your case is settled before filing a lawsuit.
You will pay 40% if your lawyer files a lawsuit but the case settles before trial.
You will pay 45% if your case goes to trial.
Pro Bono
If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be able to find a pro bono car accident lawyer to represent you. The term “pro bono” is a Latin expression meaning “for the public good”, and means the lawyer will represent you without requiring payment. Typically, lawyers will only take on pro bono cases when someone needs legal representation but does not have the financial means to pay for it.

When should I contact a car accident lawyer?
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, the first thing you should do after seeking medical attention is to contact a car accident lawyer. Insurance companies are notorious for trying to get you to agree to lowball settlement offers immediately after your accident.

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About Attorney911
Legal Emergency Lawyers™ legal services
Attorney911 Legal Emergency Lawyers™ legal services is a Texas-based personal injury and criminal defense law firm with offices in Houston and Austin, though we are proud to serve Texans from all over the state and represent clients in federal court. We handle a wide variety of legal issues — from car accidents to worker’s compensation to DUI/DWI offenses. Our staff is bilingual, friendly, and genuinely passionate about helping our clients, whether it’s a million-dollar case or a thousand-dollar case. We also understand that cost can be a prohibitive factor in hiring a lawyer, and are willing to work with you on structuring payment in a way that is fair and feasible. We do accept credit cards for our hourly fees, and take some cases on contingency, which means you don’t pay us unless and until you get paid yourself. We know that you have a choice in your legal representation, and we believe that what makes us stand out from the competition is our real emotional investment in our clients. We see you as a person — not a paycheck. And we will fight hard for you, because we truly care.

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