As many of you know most personal injury lawyers charge a contingency fee. Some people advocate limiting the rights of injured parties and seek to eliminate or change the availability of the contingent fee arrangement. The folks who promote this view are not friends of people who are injured in automobile/trucking accidents, by medical negligence or by dangerous premises. Here's why:
Contingency fees make it possible for injured people to obtain competent and sometimes extraordinary representation from attorneys who are the equal of the attorneys hired by insurance companies and wealthy corporations. Lawyers who represent injured people often invest hundreds and sometimes thousands of hours of their and their staffs' time to obtain fair compensation for their clients' injuries and losses. If contingency fees were not available, injured folks would have to pay their lawyers substantial fees to obtain adequate representation. Imagine paying an attorney a fee for every six minutes he or she worked on your personal injury case...this would cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars whether you won or lost. A contingency fee allows you to aggressively pursue your claim without owing thousands of dollars in fees should you lose.
When you hear of a person or group suggesting that contingency fees should be limited, remember that you are not charged a fee unless there is a recovery, and there are no costs involved in sitting down with a personal injury lawyer to learn if your case has merit. Insurance companies hire top-notch lawyers to defend their insured; shouldn't you have the same opportunity? The contingency fee levels the playing field between you and rich and powerful insurance companies.
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