A Personal Injury Lawyer: Worth Every Penny
One reason people are hesitant to hire an attorney after an accident is that they don’t want to spend the money. They think that a lawyer will only end up taking a big piece of their settlement and that they can handle their claim alone.
Insurance companies feed into this belief, often outright encouraging claimants not to hire a lawyer. As an injured victim, you should question why an insurance company is so worried about you hiring legal help. In reality, a Daytona Beach personal injury lawyer can often maximize your settlement so that you end up getting much more compensation than you would on your own.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Charges for His Services
Personal injury attorneys who represent accident victims almost always work on contingency. This means that the lawyer doesn’t charge upfront attorneys’ fees. Instead, the lawyer will take a percentage of your jury verdict or settlement, usually around 33-40%. If you get $60,000 for your accident, then the typical attorney gets $20,000.
This type of agreement works out very well for our clients because it creates an incentive for a lawyer to get as big of a settlement as possible. Remember, the more the client gets, the more the attorney gets. The bigger the overall pie, the bigger the attorney’s slice—and the bigger the portion the client takes home as well.
Also, contingency fees create an incentive for an attorney not to take a weak case. If you don’t have a valid claim, a lawyer won’t represent you because he will end up with no money when you lose. You should feel confident that an attorney believes in your claim if he signs you up as a client.
How an Attorney Maximizes the Amount a Client Receives
A personal injury victim can receive money for various economic losses:
- Medical care, including future medical care
- Lost wages, including future lost earning capacity if you can’t return to your job
- Property damage, such as damage to a car
These economic losses are pretty much set in stone. You should have a bill that states how much your medical care cost and pay stubs showing how much you lost in wages. If you handle your own claim, you should be able to receive these sums because an insurance company will rarely dispute them.
The real difference comes with pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other “non-economic” losses. A qualified attorney can increase the amount you receive here, often substantially. If you represent yourself, you might not know how much you can receive for pain and suffering or for depression. Many claimants end up settling for little to no money at all. They only get compensated for their economic losses, and that’s it.
By hiring a lawyer, you will probably come out ahead, even after the attorney deducts his contingency fee. This makes hiring an attorney the smart choice.
Contact Bundza & Rodriguez Today
We are established personal injury lawyers in Daytona Beach with many happy clients. To find out more about how we can help your case, please call 386-252-5170 or send us an online message. We offer a free consultation to those who reach out.
Resource:
floridabar.org/public/consumer/pamphlet003/
https://www.daytonalawyers.com/176-people-shot-in-volusia-flagler-counties-in-one-year/
