For many individuals, it is not so cut and dried when they need to hire an attorney to handle a personal injury case. However, for anyone that has suffered an injury, or had a loved one suffer because of another individual’s action, it is important to find proper compensation for the damages involved. Unfortunately, insurance companies often play the run-around game and find ways that they can minimize a payout when the injured party does not hire a Houston personal injury lawyer. As a result, the insurance company profits greatly from an injured victim that is under-compensated.
While it may be true that the attorney takes a large percentage of the settled amount, the compensation received by the injured party is usually much greater than they would have received without a lawyer. Houston personal injury attorneys are highly skilled at obtaining favorable settlements over and above what the injured party can do on their own.
The Costs
A Houston personal injury attorney typically takes a case based on a contingent fee, also referred to as a contingency fee. This means they only get paid if an award or settlement is successful in the case. If they are unsuccessful, they are unable to receive the fees for their services. The percentage of contingency fees charged by different attorneys varies greatly. It is often highly dependent on the type of case.
Some cases, like those involving workers’ compensation, tend to be tightly regulated, making the contingency lower than other cases. Medical malpractice cases tend to have a higher contingency fee due to the extensive medical knowledge required of the attorney to handle the case. They tend to be more successful than attorneys that have less experience and skills in medical malpractice cases, meaning that the client will receive a greater total amount once the case is settled or won in a court of law.