A competent personal injury attorney will review your case and decide whether the facts support a likely monetary win. If an attorney thinks they’ll achieve a significant financial settlement, they shouldn’t ask you for any money up-front. A personal injury attorney who asks you for money up-front may not believe you have a winnable case. This is a red flag. The personal injury attorney you select must believe you have a strong case and will agree to represent you on a contingency fee arrangement. This allows you to hire an experienced, skilled personal injury lawyer without paying the substantial costs of preparing your case in advance.
When an attorney agrees to only accept payment when they win a financial settlement or obtain a verdict at trial, you are assured they will be committed and dedicated to putting in the time, resources, and work necessary because their compensation is entirely based on your just, reasonable, and fair compensation. In other words, your attorney only gets paid when you get paid.
With Josh Clayton as your attorney, he only gets paid when he secures an agreed-upon monetary settlement or wins a trial judgment on your behalf.
Before a personal injury attorney begins to work for you, they should present an agreement defining the percentage they’ll receive from your settlement or trial verdict. When you hire attorney Clayton, he will clearly define in advance and in writing the percentage he’ll receive once your case is brought to a successful settlement or a winning trial verdict is achieved. Attorney Clayton will pay up-front for all the costs of preparing your case, and only when you reach a settlement or obtain a verdict will he reimburse himself for those costs. Therefore, you will pay nothing yourself until your case is settled or tried.
The severity of your injury or loss may determine your attorney’s fees and expenses. For instance, some illnesses or injuries caused by toxic substances and/or a hazardous environment may require more research and investigation to prove long-term monetary damages rather than what may be a more straightforward car accident injury. What may be a fair attorney fee depends on many factors, and a competent personal injury attorney can analyze your case to propose a reasonable contingency fee arrangement.
The average contingency fees range between 30 and 40 percent. Typically, a personal injury attorney will receive one-third of a settlement. The negotiated percentage of the attorney’s fee may be less or more depending upon at what stage your case is monetarily settled. In some contingency arrangements, a lawyer may offer a “tiered” contingency fee. For instance, some lawyers will agree to be paid one-third of the overall settlement if the case settles before it goes to trial, 40% if a trial is necessary, and 50% if your case is tried but then is appealed and must be tried again.
Whatever the fee arrangement, when a lawyer handles a case on a contingency basis, they have more incentive to win the maximum compensation for you allowed through the insurance and legal process. With attorney Clayton as your personal injury attorney, you will agree in advance to the percentage he will receive upon the conclusion of your case.
So you have an idea up-front, some of the costs and expenses involved in a personal injury case, besides your attorney’s fees, may include the following costs:
- medical bills (past and ongoing)
- medical record acquisition
- police report fees
- medical expert fees
- accident analyst fees
- economic expert witness fees
- life-care planning expert fees
- outside research
- administrative costs
- phone bills
- travel costs
- postage
- private investigator fees
- deposition costs and payments
- court filing fees
- trial exhibit preparation
When you’ve been injured, or a loved one lost, because of an accident caused by the recklessness or negligence of a person or entity including through medical malpractice, attorney Josh Clayton will aggressively fight for your right to fair monetary compensation for your damages. For over a decade, attorney Clayton has protected the rights of injured victims throughout Louisiana.
Attorney Clayton knows how stressful and painful accident injuries are, or the loss of a loved one is and wants to help you through this process. So, contact him today at (318) 217-8487 for your free personal appointment with him to respectfully discuss the merits of your personal injury case. Or if it’s more comfortable for you, please write him a message using our contact form.