If I Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer Do I Pay A Retainer or Anything Up Front?

Most personal injury victims are, at the end of the day, concerned primarily not with the ultimate value of their claim, but rather with the amount of the total recovery that they get, i.e. the “net”. That is, after all costs, fees and expenses are deducted -what hits their pocket?

Understandably, that is really all that matters for someone hurt, out of work, behind on expenses, and facing a stack of medical bills.

So, if you’re spending money up front, out of pocket, then that is obviously going to affect the net recovery, as your out of pocket expenditures will need to be recouped.

If an injured person in paying a lawyer to handle a case on an hourly basis, the need to pay legal fees on a periodic ongoing basis my interfere with other basic living expenses. Most Baltimore personal injury lawyers handle car accident and other personal injury cases on a “contingency fee basis”. The essence of this type of agreement is that any lawyer’s fees are taken, if at all, only out of your recovery. There are no retainers or initial “up-front” fees. This type of attorney fee agreement finds its purest and best application in the context of an injured person, out of work, and short on funds, with medical bills piling up.

If there is no recovery, there are no lawyers fees or costs.

I Attorney Eric T. Kirk offer my Maryland personal injury clients a reduced fee program that allows them to keep a higher percentage of the overall recovery, because the attorney’s fee percentage I use is lower than that typically found in the community. Additionally, most Baltimore personal injury lawyers routinely advance costs in Maryland car accident and other personal injury cases. In the typical claim, the injury victim is not going to have to pay upfront for fees, or, unless you’ve agreed otherwise, for costs.