How much is this actually going to cost me if I hire you?

What personal injury law firms need to publish

Contingency fee structure is widely known in outline but poorly understood in detail, and the details are exactly where a client can be surprised at settlement.

How customers actually ask it

The same intent arrives in wording your page probably does not use. All of these mean the same thing:

  • “How much is this actually going to cost me if I hire you?”
  • “personal injury lawyer contingency fee”
  • “do I pay upfront for a lawyer”
  • “what percentage do injury lawyers take”

What a complete answer contains

For personal injury law firms specifically, an answer is only complete when it covers all 5:

  1. 1

    The contingency fee percentage, stated as a typical range

  2. 2

    Whether the percentage changes if the case goes to trial versus settling early

  3. 3

    The separate treatment of case costs and expenses from the attorney's fee itself

  4. 4

    What happens to those costs if the case is unsuccessful

  5. 5

    That the initial consultation is free, restated plainly

A worked example

Illustrative — not a real business

We work on contingency, meaning you pay nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket during the case — our fee comes only from the settlement or verdict, typically 33 percent if the case settles before a lawsuit is filed, rising to 40 percent if it goes to trial, since trial preparation is significantly more work. Separate from that fee are case costs — expert witness fees, medical record requests, court filing fees — which we usually front and then deduct from your settlement at the end, itemized so you can see exactly what was spent. If the case is unsuccessful, in almost every contingency arrangement you owe nothing for our time and, depending on the agreement, often nothing for the advanced costs either — ask us to confirm that specific term before signing anything with any firm. The consultation to evaluate your case in the first place is free regardless of what you decide afterward.

Which page should own it

Fees and costs page

What silence costs

Unexplained cost deductions at settlement time are the most common source of client dissatisfaction with an otherwise successful case.

More questions personal injury law firms get

Related

Does your site answer this already?

Point RubyRep at your website and ask it this exact question. If it cannot answer, neither can your customers.

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Takes about a minute.