If you were recently involved in a car accident, you might be dealing with serious injuries, physical pain, and an uncertain future. You may be concerned about accident lawyer fees and whether you can afford to hire an experienced attorney to help with your motor vehicle accident case.
Merry Fountain, founder of the Fountain Law Firm, P.C. does not want you to worry about attorney fees or other financial matters. She wants you to concentrate on your health and recovery while trusting your accident claim in the capable hands of an experienced car accident attorney.
We provide our legal services on a contingency basis, so you do not have to worry about any upfront payment. We only get paid if we secure a favorable outcome for your case. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation legal consultation to learn more about how we can help and how our contingency fees work.
You may be disappointed if you’re looking for a simple answer like $5,000 or $10,000. Predicting how much hiring a car accident attorney will cost is difficult. This is because most accident lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. Therefore, an auto accident lawyer receives an agreed-upon percentage rather than an exact amount for their work.
With contingency fee arrangements, accident victims do not pay attorney fees upfront. They receive the benefit of having legal representation without having to pay the lawyer’s normal hourly rate upfront. An experienced car accident lawyer gets to work immediately on the case and then receives payment for their services after they secure a successful outcome in the case. This is the most common fee structure for personal injury clients.
Under a contingency fee agreement, the accident victim pays for legal services when they can afford to – when they have funds from a personal injury award or accident settlement. Under this fee structure, crash victims do not have to pay attorney fees if the attorney is unable to secure monetary compensation for the claim.
Contingency percentages can vary. The industry standard for contingency fees is one-third. This means that if the accident victim recovers compensation for property damage, medical expenses, or other losses, the attorney takes out the contingency fee percentage of the award before paying the client the remainder.
However, the actual percentage auto accident attorneys charge could be more than this. For example, some law firms may charge one-third for a typical car accident claim but 40% if a personal injury lawsuit must be filed. Merry Fountain does not increase her fee for auto collision victims in lawsuits.
If you have questions about our contingency fee rates, call us for a free initial consultation.
Because different accident attorneys and personal injury firms may charge different rates, it can be helpful to use an example to give accident clients a better idea about what the cost of hiring a legal professional might be.
Suppose you are in a traffic accident. You suffer injuries. You hire a personal injury law firm to represent you. The firm charges a contingency fee rate of one-third. The firm settles your claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance provider for $100,000. The firm takes its contingency fee of $33,333 in this example. Most providers and health insurers who pay your medical bills also have a right to recovery out of your settlement.
Contingency fee arrangements provide accident victims with the following benefits:
You might worry whether you can afford to pay for the services of a skilled attorney and whether your insurance provider can cover the costs of your attorney fees. While insurance providers generally must defend or indemnify policyholders, this only applies to hiring a defense attorney, such as if you were found at fault for the accident and the accident victim sues you. Therefore, you will have to pay for your own attorney’s fees out of your settlement if you want to pursue a claim for compensation against the at-fault driver.
It is important to know that you may also be responsible for various costs beyond lawyer fees that are necessary to resolve your claim. Potential expenses related to your case may include:
These additional costs can add up to thousands of dollars in a case, so it’s important that you are aware of them and how they may impact your settlement. It is important to know that if your case settles without a lawsuit, the expenses are thousands of dollars less because they don’t include litigation costs.
Law firms handle these potential expenses differently. Merry Fountain usually advances these costs upfront and waits for reimbursement out of the settlement. Other firms may require clients to pay these costs out of pocket.
At Fountain Law Firm, P.C., we aim to secure fair compensation for injured people that results in meaningful financial recovery after our fees and the costs associated with handling your insurance claim are deducted. When your case is settled, you receive a statement that shows the exact charges and how our fee was calculated.
Personal injury claims allow you to seek compensation for the economic and non-economic damages you suffered. Economic damages are quantifiable expenses and financial losses you suffer from the accident. These include:
Non-economic expenses compensate you for intangible losses that are more difficult to quantify, such as:
When you hire a knowledgeable car accident lawyer with Fountain Law Firm, we will seek a personal injury settlement for the maximum compensation for your claim.
Some accident victims are so worried about the costs of hiring an attorney that they try to handle their claims on their own. However, it’s essential to keep in mind the potential outcomes involved in these legal matters, such as:
Even if you can secure a monetary recovery in your case, it may not be what an experienced legal team could have recovered on your behalf.
Accident injury lawyers provide valuable services to clients. They use their legal experience, knowledge of the law, and resources to try to secure a fair settlement on behalf of their client. They complete a wide range of tasks when handling personal injury claims, including:
Trust your case to the capable hands of Merry Fountain and her dedicated legal team.
If you are looking for a car accident lawyer near me, you’ve come to the right place. At Fountain Law Firm, P.C., we believe that accident victims have a right to be represented by a skilled lawyer, regardless of their current ability to pay for services. We are so confident in our ability to secure fair compensation for you that we charge no fees upfront and only get paid once we recover money from the party responsible for your injuries.
We have a track record of success in handling personal injury matters and can capably handle your claim from start to finish. Contact us today at (317) 608-5226 to speak to a member of our dedicated team about your case and to schedule a free consultation with a compassionate Indianapolis car accident lawyer.