You’ve been in an accident and now you are trying to decide whether to file a lawsuit or not.  There is a part of you that says you want to hold the other person responsible for what happened, but there is another part of you that thinks people will think less of you if you do pursue the case, or maybe you feel there are too many lawsuits, or that it is not going to be worth your time to do it.  There may be a number of other reasons you may be thinking of as to why you don’t want to file a suit.  Those reasons can be politically based, religiously based, or based upon a belief that only money “grubbers” or ‘greedy” people file lawsuits.  What should you do? 

     Like many people, you probably talk about what to do with your spouse, friends, other family members or even co-workers.  What you are left with after those discussions is a  number of people telling to get a lawyer, and some others telling you some story about why you shouldn’t.  Some may say that we have a lawsuit “crisis” in this country, or that you shouldn’t contribute to the “runaway” jury awards that the media seems to talk about.  You are left feeling, possibly, no closer to an answer to your personal question than when you first started asking around about what other people think. 

     Whether you should or should not pursue a claim ultimately is an individual decision you will have to make.  Of course, the opinions of spouses and trusted family and friends may bear on that decision, but at the end of the day, it is truly your decision and your’s alone to make.  You think you  may want to do it, but are concerned about the perceptions of others that you may be greedy, or are contributing to the so called lawsuit “crisis” in this county.  Maybe some cold hard facts can help you decide.  These are facts that you can research on your own if you desire.  These are facts that UNDERMINE the statements of some about lawsuit “crisis”, “runaway juries,”, etc. 

     Let me be clear from the outset about one fact.  We DO NOT condone frivolous or nonsense lawsuits.  If I have a potential client that does not have a case, we tell them that and send them on their way.  In fact, I don’t know any lawyer representing victims of other peoples’ negligence that file frivolous lawsuits.  I would add that I would encourage anyone that hears someone talking about “frivolous” lawsuits to challenge that person to describe one single baseless lawsuit.  I wil admit that there are some crazy cases out there, but  many of those are brought by individuals representing themselves, not by lawyers.  But let me be a little more specific.  You often hear about the ‘medical malpractice crisis” in Illinois and other states.  Supposedly doctors are fleeing the state, etc.  Challenge the person making that statement to identify ONE doctor that left the state because of malpractice claims.  The other little known fact is that a  medical malpractice claim cannot be filed in Illinois UNLESS  a medical doctor, licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, has CERTIFIED UNDER OATH that the malpractice claiim has merit.  In other words, a lawyer cannot just run to the courthouse and file a medical malpractice claim.  The lawyer has to get all the persons medical records and have those records reviewed by a licensed doctor to determine whether there was malpractice or not.  The task of getting the records and getting them reviewed by a doctor will cost the lawyer anywhere from about $1,000 to often times easily over $5,000.  With that much money going out the door just to see if there is a case, how many people think lawyers are taking frivolous malpractice claims if it costs that much just to find out whether there is malpractice or not??  All lawyers that I know do a very effective job of screening out the potential malpractice claims that do not have merit.  Medical malpractice claims are very expensive to pursue, and no lawyer is just throwing money away on something that has no  chance of recovery.

     Let’s talk about another hot button topic of certain politicians–the lawsuit “crisis” in this country.  Did you ever notice that when politicians talk about lawsuit crisis, they always seem to men tion people suing for personal injuries as the reason for the crisis.  Did you ever find it ironic that the people talking about the crisis are not the ones in the trenches on a  daily basis handling cases and actually seeing what is going on?  Did you ever notice that the shrill scream of CRISIS  seemingly is always coming from politicians running for office?  Have you ever heard of a group of federal or state judges, the same judges supposedly in the very middle of the crisis, talking about a crisis?  Isn’t it funny that the people actually working in the legal system don’t seem to be talking about any crisis?  Yet, every election year, certain politicians scream about the “crisis” with runaway jury verdicts for supposedly non-deserving injured people and their families.  You hear about the need for CAPS on damages, designed solely to punish the injured person or their family from recovering fair compensation, yet protecting the at fault person or company from paying what’s fair.  What is fair about that?  In any event, would you find it interesting to know that over about 80 % of all civil lawsuits filed are one company suing some other company for some reason?  If the bulk of ALL civil lawsuits filed are one company suing some other company for whatever reason, like breach of contract, trademark infringement, or whatever, than if there is a crisis, who caused it?  Was the “explosion” of lawsuits because of injured people suing for those injuries, or was the “explosion” caused by corporations suing corporations??  So the next time you hear about a lawsuit crisis from someone, ask them about these facts.  Also, the next time you hear some politician crying about all the lawsuits, ask them who is filing them.  All of the above facts are documented from the American Association of Justice as well as statistics pulled from the courthouses.  Theese are not just some facts I made up.   Do your research.

     Other reasons you may hear about why you sh ouldn’t file a lawsuit are just utterly frivolous under biopsy.  Is it only ‘greedy’ people that file claims?  Does a young woman whose husband was killed when a truck crossed the certerline, leaving her to take care of herself and their kids fit the profile of a “greedy” person?  Do you think for a minute that if the truck company was at fault, that they would immediately call the grieving widow, and offer to pay funeral and burial costs, as well as provide a stream of income to replace what was lost?  People hurt in accidents seeking fair compensation are NOT GREEDY!  How does the person or company that was at fault, and caused the accident, escape namecalling, yet you, the injured person, going to the doctor, having surgery, going to physical therapy, can’t spend quality time with your spouse or kids, how is that you are greedy by seeking fair compensation for what happened?  Why are you called names if you file a claim, yet the person or company that caused the accident escapes without  being held responsible, yet alone called bad names?  It is no more “greedy” to seek fair compensation for your injuries, then it is “greedy” to expect to be paid a fair wage for whatever work you do.  What we have see over the years is that people that talk about “greedy” claimants are usually those that either had their own claim, or someone close to them that didn’t get any money, and they are still  mad about it.

     Let’s fiinish by talking about “runaway” jurv verdicts.  You see this in the paper with some regularity and constantly hear certain politicians talking aobut it.  Juries are supposedly out of control and blindly awarding millions of dollars for small injuries.   There are supposedly judicial “hell-holes” where if a company gets sued in a certain locale, that the juries are just out of control awarding money against them.   The cases where lots of money is awarded often make headlines, without question.  But what is  really at work when the newspaper or politician tries to take a single jury verdict and use it as some part of their personal agenda to get elected or whatever.  Let’s talk about the civl jury for a minute

     The United States is the ONLY country that truly alows jury trials in civil cases.  A civil case is one that is not criminal–no body is going to jail.  Civil trial are about personal injury, breach of contract, etc.  The only thing at stake in civil trials is usually money or enforce certain types of contracts, or to bar a company from infringing on some other company’s rights, etc.  Who sits on these civil juries?  Is it some supposed “lunatics” of society?   No, it is people like me and you.  Civil juries are people from the community.  They are your neighbors, your co-workers.  The are the people you see in your church, at your schools.  They are your kids teachers, your carpenter, the plumber, the doctor that lives down the street.  They work at the post office, in office buildings, they drive delivery trucks and fix your car when it’s broken.   The cook fantastic food in restaurants and deliver it to your table.  Jurors are as diverse and as varied as the community in which you live.    Very few people can escape from jury duty, and if you are called, you should not try and avoid it either.  Why?  Because serving on a jury is a FANTASTIC experience.  Yes, it may pull you from your job, or interrupt your schedule for awhile, and you may hate having to drive “down-town” to get to the courthouse.  But, almost universally,  people interviewed after jury duty say that it was a great experience, that they enjoyed learing about a process foreign to them, etc.  I have digressed here a little to remind us of our civic duty to serve when called.  But it makes a point.  The reality is that all those runaway juries out there were citizens of the community, called by the clerks office to try and serve.  They were interviewd by the Judge and the lawyers before they were chosen.  They sat through the whole trial.  They heard the evidence.  They saw the witnesses and were able to observe their demeanor.  They heard the arguments of both lawyers, they heard the law from the judge, and they swore to follow the law that the judge gave them.  Do they sound like a group that woudl just “runaway” with the process and award obscene sums?

     In other words, the newsbites and snippets from politicians about certain jury awards don’t even scratch the surface of what went on in the trial.  The pundit uses the result of the trial as supposed evidence of a broken system.  Yet, who can second guess the actions of a group of citizens, that had to reach a unanimous result?  Can we really believe the 2 minutes sound bite?   In a trial that may have lasted days, weeks or months, do we really think the jury at the end just threw up their hands and gave away the bank?   In other words, do you ever hear about when the injured person loses???   Recall the stunning first verdict in Texas against Merck for the problems with Vioxx??  It was all over the TV news and newspapers.  Now, how many have head about all the cases that Merck has won?  Would it shock you to know that Merck, before the recent settlement, won far more Vioxx cases then it lost?  In other words, the lawyers trying the cases, both for the injured person and for the person or company sued, have FAITH in the jury trial system.  Every defense lawyer worth their salt will tell you that cases are won or lost, based upon the facts, not runaway juries. 

     I’m sure if you read this far, you are probably thinking about the McDonald’s hot coffee verdict as a classic example of a runaway verdict and that your friends will think of you in that way if you file a lawsuit.  I will  discuss the infamous McDonald’s case in a later post.   You will probably be surprised by what you will hear.  But, to the point, SHOULD YOU FILE A LAWSUIT?   Would you have any  hesitation to talk to a lawyer if you thought your  neighbor damaged your property, if you were fired from your job unfairly or because of your gender, age, race or creed? If the company working on your neighbors property damaged yours in the process, would you have any hesitation holding them responsible?   Is it any different to hold responsible the person or company that killed your spouse, child, or put you in the hospital?   Be fair to yourself.   Good luck. 

     Most people when they buy their auto insurance also buy uninsured and underinsured motorists coverages.  It is not surprising that most people pay little attention to those coverages and most insurance agents, in my opinion, don’t really explain to you how those coverages work.  Then, you get in an accident, and find out that the person that caused the accident either has NO insurance, or insurance with very low liability limits.  In many states, including Illinois, every driver is required to have a minimum of $20,000 in coverage.  Those policies are sold by alleged substandard insurance companies and many  people of limited means may pay the first premium to get the insurance card, then stop paying.  When they get in an accident, they show the police the insurance card in the hope of avoiding getting a ticket for no insurance.  But where does that leave you, the seriously injured person?  You’ve been hit by someone that, on the best of days, has $20,000 in coverage to apply to your claim, yet your claim may be worth much, much more than that.  So what do you do?  You have to then look at your uninsured or underinsured coverages.  If the other driver had NO insurance, then your uninsured coverage applies.  If the other driver had insurance with limits clearly not sufficient to pay for the full value of your injury claim, then your  underinsured coverage should apply.  But, how in the world do you do that?

     In prior blogs, I have touched on this issue and will repeat it here.  Handling by yourself your uninsured or underinsured claim is COMPLICATED!!!  You would be well served by hiring a lawyer.  Here is a real life example from a case I handled.   A young family man with 3 beautiful kids and a darling wife was on his way home from work when a drunk driver crossed the center-line and hit him head on.  It was a miracle he survived.  The drunk driver did not.  The drunk driver had no insurance.   Imagine that.  My client had devastating injuries that will affect him and his family for the rest of his life.  Under his own uninsured motorists coverage, he had $100,000 in coverage.  When he called me, I met with him and his wife to discuss what could happen.  I openly told him that he could handle his case by himself, and what would happen.  My client at that point had over $250,000 in medical bills.  The first $10,000 had been paid by his own auto insurance under his medical payments section.  The remainder had been paid by his group health insurance from his job.  I told him that he could call his insurance company and demand the $100,000.  I told him that his insurance company would want him to sign authorizations to get his records and bills, and then they would call him and tell him they would send him a check for $90,000, and the check would be made payable to him and his group health insurance.  He asked what he could do with that check?  I honestly told him that he would then have to call his group health insurance and they would tell him that under his insurance contract with them, he would have to sign the check over to them.  My client then asked me what he got out of it, and I honestly told him he would get NOTHING if he didn’t hire a lawyer.  All of his work would only get the insurance companies paid.  He was obviously shocked and angry.  He couldn’t figure out how after buying $100,000 in uninsured protection, that he got none of it.  He then asked what he would get if he hired a lawyer (me).  I told him that I couldn’t be exact, but that if it all worked out like I expected it to, that he and his wife would get about $33,000. 

     Well, how did that work out?  Almost to the penny, he and his wife got $35,000, slightly more than what I predicted.  How come he couldn’t do it himself and get that amount?  Where did the rest go?  As to where the rest went, read my last post about how many hands go digging into your settlement. 

     So, in most cases, do yourself a HUGE favor, and get an experienced injury lawyer working on your side.  But for you  “do-it-yourselfers” out there, here are some things to keep in mind.   Uninsured and underinsured claims arise out of your insurance CONTRACT!  You guessed it.  When you bought the insurance, you entered into a contract with your insurance company.  Each clause of that contract is important, and you must follow each step exactly as it is outlined in your policy.  You may be required to SUE the uninsured driver to protect your own insurance companies subrogation rights!  You WILL NEED TO DEMAND ARBITRATION under the terms of your policy.  You WILL have to disclose an arbitrator.  You WILL have to give a statement to your insurance company.  You WILL have to resolve the LIEN of your group health insurance company or they  snap up some or all of your money too.  And I don’t think your insurance company will tell you  that they may not be entitled to get back what they paid for medical payments for you.

     So that is how it works.  Easy enough isn’t it? This blog just scratches the surface of handling uninsured/underinsured claims.  They can be further complicated if workers’ compensation is involved, if there are multiple people in your car, if there are multiple cars involved in the accident, etc.  But even assuming you can get through all of that on your  own, and I am sure there are many bright people out there that can do that, I will then ask, how do you know how much your case is worth?  A topic of prior blog.  You are a skilled artisan in your own craft, do yourself and your loved ones a favor and leave it to an experienced injury lawyer to help.  Good luck! 

     So, you got into an accident and you think you have done everything right.  You went to the doctor, followed up on all of your medical appointments, you reported the accident to the police and your insurance company, you researched to try and find a good lawyer that signed you up as a client and is now in the process of settling your case.  The lawyer tells you how much money the insurance company is offering, and then telling you how much you will net out.  And, you are STUNNED!!

     You say to yourself, how come that is all I am getting?   You sit down and try and run the math.  Your case settled for, hypothetically, $60,000.   So, let’s see, your lawyer gets one-third of the settlement ($20,000) leaving you with $40,ooo..  So why did your lawyer say your are only getting $19,000????  Who the heck is getting the rest of your money?!  After all, you were the one that got injured, so who else gets their hands in your pocket and is taking your money??  Let’s take a look!!

     If you hired a good lawyer, everything that follows below is information your lawyer explained to you when you  hired him/her or shortly thereafter.  If you are only hearing about it after your case settled, then that is probably a lawyer you will not ever want to hire again or refer to any of your friends or family.  Part of the lawyer’s job is to explain just where does the money go when the case settles.  No lawyer in good conscience waits until after the case settles to try and explain that to his/her client.  Part of the job of  being a good lawyer is to not let a client develop unrealistic ideas about how much money they may get and certainly keep the client advised every step of the way about how much the client will NET out when the case settles once figures start to be discussed.  But, getting back to our example, here is how a $60,000 settlement may only net a client $19,000.

     After the accident happend and you started getting medical bills in the mail, you were delighted to see that your own auto insurance had “Medical Payments” coverage that started paying your bills.  In fact, you had $10,000 in that type of coverage and so your own insurance company paid the first $10,000 of your bills.  So far so good.  Your total amount of bills was $16,000, and then you remembered that after your medical payments coverage was exhausted, your group health insurance from either your employment or maybe your spouse’s plan took care of the rest of your bills.  That was peace of mind to you and you didn’t have any money grubbing collectors coming after you for unpaid bills, etc.  OK, so why did you only get $19,000???  Here’s why!

     Hopefully your lawyer had a written fee agreement with you (required in Illinois if the lawyer is working on a contingent fee).  The lawyer’s fee was probably 1/3 of the settlement, and that was the easy part to figure out.  $60,000 - $20,000 = $40,000.  So, where did the other $21,000  disappear to?  Who grabbed your cash?!  Well, it turns out the lawyer had $5,000 in legal expenses preparing and prosecuting your case.  Every good lawyer keeps receipts for these expenses.  They include, for instance, the cost of getting your medical records, medical reports from doctors, the cost of filing the lawsuit, deposition and court reporter fees, etc.  These costs can add up so demand an accounting of them.  But that $5,000 is recoverable to the lawyer, bringing it down to $35,000.  So who else is grabbing the cash???   You probably guessed it by now—the INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!

     You got that right!   You bought and paid premiums for insurance, and they paid just like they were supposed to and now they get their money back?  Tough stuff to swallow.  Every insurance policy for cars or group health have a clause that allows them to get back the amount of money they paid for their insured if they had to pay because of some other parties fault.  So when the at fault insurance company pays you, your own insurance company has a right of subrogation or reimbursement to get the amount of money they paid on your behalf taken right back to them out of your settlement.  Are they greedy or what?!

     So, when your own auto insurance paid the first $10,000 of your medical bills, they get that amount back!  So now you are down to $25,000.  Remember that your group health insurance paid the next and last amount of bills of $6,000, and they want that back too!!!  You may not have known this if your lawyer did not tell you (but they should have!!), but while they were representing you, they received “LIENS” from your insuranc companies which must be honored at the time of the settlement.  So, after your good friends in the insurance industry get all their money back, you are left with $19,000.  Here’s what it looks like:

Settlement            $60,000

Atty Fee               ($20,000)

Expenses              ($5,000)

Med Pay Lien       ($10,000)

Group Health Lien  ($6,000)

Net to YOU:      $19,000

     After you recover from the shock of learning that, next time you need a lawyer that keeps you up to date on how  much you will NET out, and not surprise you with that after the case has settled.   Additionally, did you know that your lawyer, at least in Illinois, could have worked to REDUCE the amount of the insurance liens?  And that would have put more $$$$$ in YOUR pocket, not the insurance company.   If your lawyer didn’t tell you this before hand, and didn’t work to reduce the liens, he/she did not work hard for YOU!!!   Call us.  We fight for our clients to maximize their recovery.  We don’t ever try to help the insurance companies get their money back!!  That is your money, and we try to get you every cent we can.   Good luck. 

     If you or someone you know has been injured in some type of accident, or is the victim of a bad result from a surgery or from some doctor’s care, it is natural to wonder whether you may have a valid case against the person causing the accident or the doctor or hospital that you think may have made a mistake. Sometimes it is hard to know whether you  do or do not have a valid claim to pursue.  What should you do?  Where should you go to get some answers?

     For those with internet access, searches uncovering blogs like this one provide an invaluable amount of information, most or all of which is free, to help you research or decide whether you need a lawyer or not, or whether you can try and handle something on your own.   Another excellent resource are your friends or coworkers.  Often, family, friends and business associates or co-workers are the first to suggest that you should “get a lawyer!”  Sometimes that is sage advice, and other times maybe less so.  But it doesn’t explain to you whether you have a valid claim or not.  So, if you indeed want to decide on your own whether you have a case, and then decide whether to talk to a lawyer, what do you look at to determine the answer?

     As lawyers working for people that have been the victims of other’s negligence, or the actions of doctors or corporations, we suggest that anytime someone has been hurt in some type of accident, you MAY have a valid case.  So, if that is all the research you wanted to do, then pick up the phone and call or send an email. It’s a free call!

     But, if you want to look even further to decide whether you have a case.  What should you look at?  We suggest you look at the FACTS of what happened.  Think carefully and objectively about what exactly were you doing at the time of the accident.  If it is an auto accident, how fast were you going?  What direction?  Were you distracted in any way?  Were you on your cell phone? Were you under the influence of alcohol or drugs?  Were you wearing your glasses or contact lenses?  Were your headlights on?  Did you blow your horn before the accident?  Did your car leave skidmarks?  Were you alone in your car?

     After you completely outline what you were doing, then turn your attention to the conditions surrounding your accident.  What was the weather like?  What were the road conditions?  Was it busy traffic?  Was there a stop sign?  Stoplight?  Streetlights? Was the road under repair?  Were certain lanes of traffic closed or narrowed because of construction? After you  place your own actions in the context of the conditions of the road and environment surrounding your accident, then you should look at the actions of the other driver or drivers.

     In terms of the actions of the other driver, what lane was he or she in?  What direction? Were their headlights on? Did you hear their horn before the accident? Are there any skidmarks from their car or truck? Was there anybody else in their car or truck?  Was their car or truck working properly?  How fast do  you think they were going?  Did they appear under the influence of drugs or alcohol after the accident?  Did the admit fault for what happened?  Did they apologize to you or offer to pay for any damage?

     After you sort through those factors, if it appears the other person is much more at fault than you, you probably have a good claim to bring.  If your own degree of fault is the same or greater than the other driver, you still have a claim, but it may not be one that many lawyers would be interested in handling.  Either way, how could it hurt  to place a free phone call or email and let a trained professional decide.

     But, what if you got hurt at work?  You were just doing your job and you threw your back out.  You think to yourself, well, my company didn’t do anything wrong.  I guess I don’t have a case.  WRONG!!  Almost anytime anyone gets injured or hurt in the course and scope of their employment, they have a valid workers’ compensation claim!!  Call the lawyer and get your rights protected!

     If you are the possible victim of medical malpractice, it is almost impossible to decide on  your own whether you have a valid claim to bring or not.  The best advice in those circumstances is to call a lawyer as soon as possible.  A trained professional lawyer that handles medical malpractice cases can tell you pretty quickly whether what happened is worth pursuing or looking into further.  Sometimes doctors make mistakes that cause a minor injury that hurts for a day or so.  You may have a case there, but the damages are so low most lawyers would not be interested in investing so much money and time because the recovery would not be large enough to justify it, even though the doctor clearly made a mistake.  Even so, call the lawyer and they can still give you advice what to do in those circumstances.  If the injury is severe or death, skilled lawyers will take the time to get all the medical records and get them reviewed by their own  medical professional to determine whether it is a good case of medical malpratice.

     So, to decide whether you have a case, you do have tools at your disposal to research and decide on your own.  Whether you think it is worth your time or not to call a lawyer is a decision you have to make.  But, injury lawyers almost always work on a contingent fee and advance all the expenses, so you really have nothing to lose by calling a trusted lawyer and getting sound advice.  Most injury lawyers work under the “NO FEE IF NO RECOVERY” rules, so it is no out of pocket money to you.

     You need legal help and you decide to contact a lawyer.  How do you know how much your lawyer is going to charge you?  How do you know if what he or she charges is a fair amount?  Additionally, most of the time someone needs a lawyer, there is a lot of emotion involved because usually something wrong has happened, which is why they need a lawyer in the first place.  Most people need lawyers because they have been arrested for DUI or some other crime, or they are getting divorced, or they have been in an accident.  People also need lawyers when they are buying their house, or getting their will or estate plan put together.  No matter why, the question becomes, HOW MUCH!!

     Lawyers generally charge clients in one of three ways:  hourly; contingent fee; or flat fee.  Most divorce lawyers charge hourly.  Most criminal defense lawyers charge hourly or flat fee depending on the situation.  Personal injury lawyers use a contingent fee, which means they do not get paid unless they get a recovery on your behalf.

     Lawyers that charge on an hourly rate will usually also require you to deposit a certain sum in advance to act as a retainer.  Make sure that any fee arrangement is in writing to protect you.  Make sure you are clear on what you want your lawyer to do, and make sure your lawyer provides you with a timely bill that itemizes exactly what tasks were done and how much time each task took.  Do NOT let your lawyer merely summarize an entire group of events or tasks they did with a lump time entry at the end.  An example of that sort of bill is as follows:  “Discuss case with opposing counsel; prepare letter to client; legal research regarding case facts; prepare memo to file; prepare notices to court and counsel; prepare docket and diary entries:  3.0 hours”.  When you get a bill like that, you have no way of knowing how much time each of those tasks took.  An example of an acceptable style of billing is as follows: “Discuss case with opposing counsel (.20); prepare letter to client (.30) legal research regarding case facts (2.20) prepare notices to court and counsel (.20) prepare docket and diary entries (.10)”.  The second example shows you in one/tenth  hour increments how much time was spent for each task, thus giving you more information into how efficient your lawyer  is.  Many legal tasks seem complicated to you, but are in fact very routine and simple to an experienced lawyer and should not be billed based upon their perceived difficulty, rather than the actual amount of time spent doing them.  In our opinion, NEVER accept a bill that reads as follows: “Legal services for client during March, 2007 (3.0)”.  With that bill, you have no real idea what your lawyer did or how efficient they were.  The legal bill in an hourly case should read like the table of contents to a book if the book were about your legal case.

     Now that you know how your hourly fee lawyer should bill you, what about your retainer?  And how much per hour is acceptable?  The hourly rate you are charged should be a competitive rate based upon the sort of work  you need done.  You want a lawyer that specializes in the sort of case that you have and is well respected.  Generally, you should interview more than one.  Call the local  bar association and ask them these sort of questions too.  Ask friends that needed that sort of help and see what they were charged.  The retainer is deposited into the lawyer’s account, and usually they lawyer will bill against the retainer and require you to refund the retainer as it runs low.  The retainer protects the lawyer from performing substantial legal work and not getting paid.  When the case is over, whatever is left in the retainer should be given back to you.

     Flat fee lawyers charge a set amount for what the legal problem is. Some examples include routine traffic cases, DUI, adoption, etc.  Check in the classified sections and you will see lawyers advertising for these sort of cases and boasting about the low rates.  Hiring the lawyer with the lowest rate may not get you the best lawyer, but the best advertiser.  Again, check with your bar association and the state agency that governs the lawyers in your state.

     Contingent fee lawyers are usually those that help victims of accidents.  The fee is a percentage of the gross recovery, plus the repayment of expenses.  The best feature of a lawyer that bills this way is that you the client usually do not have to come up with any of your own money to pay the lawyer while the case is moving along.  When the case settles, the lawyer will take a percent, usually of the gross amount of the recovery, plus whatever expenes they advanced to handle the case.  In personal injury cases, the percent charge often varies by locale and the type of case.  Most lawyers charge 1/3 as their fee.  In some cases though, we have seen lawyers charge as high as 50% for their fee!!!  That seems extravagant and greedy.  Some types of cases have the fees set, such as in workers compensation cases.  Also, in some states, the legislature has outlined the maximum fee the lawyer can charge, for instance in Illinois, the way a medical malpractice fee arrangement is defined by the legislature.

     No matter what your fee arrangement is, talk about it with your lawyer if you have any questions.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions!!!   Also, ethics guidelines usually require that lawyers only charge a reasonable fee.  Ask the bar association.  No matter what, get a lawyer that specializes in the sort of legal problem you have.  It may not be the best idea to have your divorce lawyer handle your auto accident.  But, ask your divorce lawyer who he/she would recommend!!  Good Luck!!