QUESTION
How much of a personal injury settlement will I be entitled to?
Asked on Nov 10th, 2011 on Personal Injury - New York
More details to this question:
Is it true that if I wait to negotiate a settlement with an insurance company on my own, and then contact and attorney to get more, that the attorney can only charge me a percentage of whatever extra he manages to attain? And not a portion of what I was going to get anyway?
28 ANSWERS
Business Attorney serving North Andover, MA
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Law Offices of Andrew D. Myers
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No.
Answered on Jun 02nd, 2013 at 9:50 PM
2 Awards
In California there are no laws about the amount an attorney can or will charge for their services. I caution you in attempting to deal with the insurance company on your own. They are trained to make you feel as if they are looking out for your best interest and will treat you fair. The reality is that the insurance adjuster has one goal in mind: settle your case for a little as possible as quickly as possible. Once you settle, your claim is over. Before you decide whether you need an attorney or whether an attorney will add value to your case, I suggest you speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Answered on Sep 07th, 2012 at 3:45 PM
3 Awards
Not true, but depending on the case, you may find an attorney that agrees to that.
Answered on Mar 29th, 2012 at 7:06 PM
General Practice Attorney serving Indianapolis, IN
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Broad Law Firm, LLC
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The answer to your question depends upon the Contingency Agreement that you and the attorney sign. Most attorneys will take a percentage of the entire settlement.
Answered on Feb 17th, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Houston D. Smith III
The attorney can charge whatever you agree to in the fee contract. It is not uncommon for the attorney to take a fee only on the difference. However, the language of the contract will control.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 11:46 AM
The contractual relationship is between your attorney and you regarding his/her share or percentage of the insurance settlement or gross recovery.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 9:50 AM
OMG, I hate being asked this question. You and the attorney can work out whatever you want to on the fee. There is no set percentage split, but I would not take on a case for less than 1/3rd based on what you describe. If the lawyer takes the case with the agreement you mention, then the lawyer makes a mistake, will you sue him/her for above the amount he should have negotiated, or for the entire amount? You will sue for the entire amount. The lawyer therefore is taking on responsibility for the whole settlement and what you suggest as a way of determining the fee would not be acceptable in my office. Of course you get what you pay for and I'm sure you can find an attorney who's not very good at personal injury work, but would like to make a quick buck and will accept the terms you propose. After the settlement you'll be writing more questions here asking if you should sue the attorney. You get what you pay for. Good luck with that one.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 9:22 AM
Personal Injury — Plaintiff Attorney serving Taylor, MI
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Downriver Injury & Auto Law
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That is an object of negotiation between you and the attorney. There is no law. It is a matter of contract. Get it in writing.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 9:08 AM
Small Businesses Attorney serving Livonia, MI
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Klisz Law Office, PLLC
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You are free to negotiate your contract, but that is not law.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Plaintiff Animal Bites Attorney serving Missoula, MT
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Bulman Law Associates PLLC
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Not necessarily. Depends on whether your claim is substantial enough to accept.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 1:01 AM
It depends, but generally no. Most attorneys will charge their fee based on the entire recovery.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 12:59 AM
Brain Injury Attorney serving Baton Rouge, LA
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The Lucky Law Firm, PLC
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No, the attorney can charge you a percentage of the total amount recovered. However, you may be able to negotiate with him/her to get him/her to only take a fee off of the additional amount he/she was able to help you recover. There is no rule that restricts the attorney's fee to only the extra amount.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2011 at 12:23 AM
Assault Attorney serving Richardson, TX
2 Awards
It probably won't work as there will be a complete and final settlement when you are paid.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 11:52 PM
Criminal Defense Attorney serving Anderson, SC
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The David F. Stoddard Law Firm
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Workers Compensation Law has a similar rule that states that once an impairment rating is issued, an attorney can only charge a fee based on the difference between the impairment rating and the ultimate settlement. There is no such rule in general PI law. Often, if you have received an offer, and attorney will agree to charge only a percentage o the difference, but it is not required.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 6:38 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving St. Louis, MO
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The S.E. Farris Law Firm
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If an attorney will agree to do that, you can. None can be forced to do so, however. The work that needs to be done to maximize recovery in a personal injury case is the same for the last bit as for the first part- in other words, an attorney will have to the same amount of work regardless of the settlement offer you have on the table. That being the case, there are few times when an attorney will agree not to take a fee. For example, if your case is worth 10,000, and the insurance company offers you 4,000, the attorney will still have to get the case ready for trial to recover the last 6,000 for you. Since that work would normally earn the attorney a fee on the full 10K, only an attorney without much business is going to invest the time to earn less. If you tell a qualified attorney what the offer is on the table before you hire him however, many will tell you if it is worth your while to hire him or better to just proceed alone. A bigger concern is that if you wait to hire an attorney till you try to work things out yourself, you might harm your case. Witnesses and evidence will be harder to secure the longer you wait. You may give up your privacy privileges if you sign documents without realizing what you are doing. Few lay people, or even attorneys who only "dabble" in personal injury cases are prepared to do all the things that are required to be successful in a lawsuit. Studies show that claimants with attorneys get more money than those without- typically 4-5 times more. Since there is never truly enough money to compensate for an injury, it makes sense to hire an experienced lawyer to do the work. Remember that you only get one chance to get it right!
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 5:06 PM
A personal injury lawyer generally charges a third of any recovery. Most attorneys will not take a case under the scenario you describe. In fact, it is not recommended because one of the primary services an attorney performs is assessing the value of a case and adding to that amount. By trying to negotiate the case on your own, you are setting a ceiling on a recovery and by the time you finish" negotiating" there is not much room left for an attorney to do any good. In other words, you are limiting what the attorney can do for you by telling an adjuster what you will take and then negotiating down from that point.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:53 PM
2 Awards
That is up to negotiation with the lawyer. We make those deals all the time.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:52 PM
Sam Louis Levine
If an attorney can get you more money damages (after the lawyer's fee) than what you could get on your own, then it is worth it to hire an attorney. Talk it over with an attorney. I am sure you can work something out or at least the attorney can explain to you all of your options.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:51 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Charlotte, NC
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Paul Whitfield and Associates P.A.
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The fee you pay your attorney may be anything you two can agree upon as long as it is not illegal in any way. The process you describe is the way I handle such cases. But it may be that your case is not worth more than what is offered or maybe a little more. Why should an attorney do a lot of work on a case for a small fee? It all depends on the facts of your case. How badly hurt you are, what your bills are, what the carrier has offered and whether it is in the reasonable range. If it is why would an attorney want to get in at any fee? I usually agree to help folks like that when it is clear that the offer is much too small and I am reasonably sure I can do a lot better. If the offer is reasonable or close to reasonable I tell the client to handle it on his own. You may have a small claim and an unreasonable view of what you ought to get. Nobody ever, ever gets what they want or what they think they ought to get. Almost everything is a compromise in one way or another
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:51 PM
Truck Accidents Attorney serving Indianapolis, IN
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Craig, Kelley and Faultless LLC
3 Awards
No that is not true. Certainly some attorneys will take a case based on that type of agreement. It is up to the attorney and you to come up with a fair agreement. You can do damage to your case by trying to negotiate it on your own. I would recommend that you allow an attorney to handle your case or that you at least talk to an attorney before you begin to negotiate.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:49 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Richmond, VA
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Blank & Marcus, LLC
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That is not true. To the contrary, the amount offered before an attorney enters the case is usually insultingly low and very few attorneys knowledgable in this area of law would not charge for all of the proceeds he/she obtains for you.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:41 PM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Syracuse, NY
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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Depends on the deal you want to work with the attorney. The attorney does not have to agree to only accept fees on the portion above that which the insurance company has offered you, but then again you have the option to not hire an attorney who won't agree to that condition. If you choose to go that route, keep in mind that the formula you describe would only apply if there were a firm offer from the insurance company. A feeling that you "would have gotten that much anyway" is of no value. Also, you might spoil your chances of getting a better offer by negotiating with the insurance company yourself. They might decide that they are not going to negotiate twice and if you don't accept their offer, but hire an attorney instead, they won't increase the offer, they will withdraw it.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:36 PM
There are no hard and fast rules regarding what a lawyer should be paid in situations like this. My office has done it the way you suggested many times. Other times, it was not warranted. The one thing you are not taking into account is what an experienced lawyer can do for your case if he/she has it from the beginning. A good attorney knows how to posture a case effectively with the insurance company so they set their reserves properly. Also, experts or investigators may need to be secured at the beginning and you would not necessarily have access to these people. Finally, a trained attorney will know when it is appropriate to sign documents for an insurance company, when to give statements (if at all), etc. You can actually be hurting the value of a potential claim by not taking the proper steps. The insurance industry's own statistics show that having an attorney on a claim will increase the injured party's recovery. I strongly suggest you don't do this yourself. I have seen too many clients make this attempt and only hurt their case. In many instances, an attorney cannot "reverse" what has transpired.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:32 PM
Litigation Attorney serving Olean, NY
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Black, Lyle & Habberfield, LLP
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If the attorney is good, that is all they will charge. Tell them when you meet with them and get them to agree to it in writing and you're all set. That being said, you can do some real damage to your settlement if you go about it and do a poor job so be careful.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:32 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Palm Springs, CA
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Gilbert & Bourke
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That is not necessarily true. You would need that issue spelled out in the retainer agreement you sign that the fee is based only on sums over that amount you negotiated. Generally, the retainer agreement, unless modified as above, would base the fee on the total gross settlement. You would want to make sure any prospective attorney you hire would agree to modify the retainer agreement.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:13 PM
Gary Moore
You have lost your mind. You are so focused on getting most of the settlement you are forgetting that the size of the settlement is the important thing. All of $1.00 does not compare with one third of $10.00. for example
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:13 PM
Disability Law Attorney serving Marshall, TX
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Carlile Craig, L.L.P.
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No that is not correct. The terms of how you pay the attorney are completely negotiable between you and the attorney. Most attorneys will charge some amount of fee on the entire settlement. Some will be willing to lower the fee on the amount that you already had been offered by an insurance company but there is no law or regulation requiring them to do so.
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:13 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving New York, NY
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Rothstein Law PLLC
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There is no law that says that. It depends on what you negotiate. A lawyer might not want to get involved in your case under those terms. It depends on how much more the lawyer thinks the case is worth, how much work the lawyer foresees,
Answered on Nov 10th, 2011 at 4:12 PM