How much is this going to cost me?
For all personal injury claims, we operate on a 1/3 contingency fee basis, plus expenses. This means that we only recover 1/3 of the ultimate settlement or judgment that we obtain on your behalf. We also will pay for the expenses of litigating your case with the expectation that we will be reimbursed out of your portion of the settlement or judgment at the conclusion of the case. You will not owe us any money whatsoever for our attorney’s fees or expenses if we don’t recover anything on your behalf, so there is no financial risk in letting us represent you.
At the end of the day, our success is your success, and operating on a contingency fee basis ensures that we will obtain the best – and quickest – result possible for your claim.
Criminal matters do operate on an hourly basis to be discussed with the attorney representing you. However, you will never be charged for making an initial phone call to discuss the viability of your claim or defenses. We will happily speak with you and give you an honest initial assessment of your claim so you can make an informed decision whether or not to hire us.
How long will this take?
Every case is different. Circumstances such as how many Defendants there will be, the available insurance coverage, and the extent of your injury and treatment are all factors that affect the duration of the claim. However, rest assured our law firm has consistently achieved such strong results by properly evaluating your claim and getting it resolved as quickly as possible, without detrimentally affecting its value. When you first come in our office, an attorney will sit with you and go over all of these factors to give you a realistic timetable as to when we expect the case to be resolved.
One factor we cannot control is the willingness of the Defendant – or its insurer – to make a reasonable settlement offer. However, our firm specializes in pursuing unfair claims settlement practices against insurance companies when we feel they are not fairly evaluating your claim, which has led to many positive – and faster – results. Importantly, if we feel your case is stagnating, we will keep you informed throughout the process and discuss what steps we feel should be taken to move your case along.
Will I have to testify?
Some claims can be resolved without the filing of a lawsuit. Prior to that, in most cases you would only need to provide us with information regarding your treatment and the associated pain and suffering you have been (or still may be) experiencing. We would put together a demand package to send to the Defendant and negotiate the claim on your behalf. If we reach a settlement offer before a lawsuit is filed, no further action would be required from you.
However, for some claims we will advise the filing of a lawsuit. This sometimes happens because we feel your case is so strong that filing a lawsuit right away increases the value of the claim, and other times it is because the settlement offer is so low that we believe litigating the claim will lead to a better offer or ultimately, a judgment in our favor.
Although a lawsuit increases the value of your claim, there is additional time and expenses that come with it that should also be considered. The biggest concern for most people is having to testify. If a lawsuit is filed, you will likely have to answer questions regarding how the incident occurred and the nature and extent of your injuries. The attorney handling your case will schedule a time to meet to prepare beforehand and go over the questions we anticipate will be asked, and how to answer them. An attorney would be present with you during this the questioning as well. This will be your opportunity to sell your story to the Defendant and we will be there with you every step of the way.