When you or your loved one suffer an injury as the result of somebody else’s negligent action, you would think it would seem natural the person who hurt you would offer to compensate you for your injury, or their insurance company will do the right thing and offer a fair settlement. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. Many people today will not take responsibility for their actions, and all insurance companies profit from undercompensating injury victims.
As you also might suspect insurance companies and their lawyers know the relevant law backwards and forwards; and they are fairly confident most non-lawyers have no idea what their legal rights are or the value of their case for settlement purposes.
An experienced personal injury lawyer knows how to factually build your case, how to properly negotiate with an insurance company without drama, and, if necessary, how to file a lawsuit and how take your case to trial. While it is certainly possible to negotiate your claim with insurance company yourself; as you can imagine insurance companies will do everything they can to take advantage of you. Insurance companies for starters will try to minimize your injuries and try to effectuate the lowest possible settlement early on; all the while attempting to elicit statements from you as early as possible that will damage your position if you ultimately decide to sue.
Remember: the insurance company, their staff, adjusters and their lawyers’ ultimate goal is to improve the bottom line for their insurance company, and certainly not justly nor fairly compensate you for the injuries you had sustained. An experienced lawyer is in a far better position to help you obtain a favorable settlement that, even with the attorney fee deducted, should exceed what you can obtain on your own. There will always be exceptions and there always will be “…..Jane heard from Tom who heard from Sally about an accident and….that the lawyer took too much money or they should have got more….” But usually a very close look at the facts and actual statements made, if any, just won’t prove that up.
How much does a personal injury attorney cost? Personal injury lawyers usually accept personal injury cases on a “contingency fee” basis, meaning if they are successful they receive a percentage of the settlement as their fee. If they lose, they do not receive an attorney fee.
Please note attorney fees are different from costs. You may be responsible for certain costs, such as the filing fee for your lawsuit, even if you lose. While this is rarely an issue, because most civil litigation settles before trial, you should define costs with your lawyer.
The amount of the contingency fee the attorney will charge is usually one third to forty percent of a personal injury settlement; one third before a lawsuit is filed and forty percent after a lawsuit is filed. If your case is potentially worth a lot of money, you may try to negotiate a reduction of the attorney’s contingency fee – however, the more experienced and better personal injury lawyers are usually not willing to negotiate their fees as they know what their time is worth and the value of your case.
For more information or to discuss your case please call the Law Offices of Morton J. Grabel, here in Temecula at (951) 695-7700. Mort is a graduate from an ABA & AALS Law School and has been an active member of the Bar of California for more than 20 years. He is presently the President of the Mt. San Jacinto/Hemet Bar Association.