How does a contingent fee work?

After they get injured in an automobile accident, many Coloradans may think that it will be way too expensive to contact an attorney.

Particularly if the injury is not serious in their minds, they may be tempted to save some money and just deal with the insurance companies themselves. Besides, they may think it is easier to get cash directly from an insurance company.

The problem is that many insurance carriers will offer settlements that are simply not enough to pay all of a person’s medical bills, lost wages and other expenses.

A Denver area accident victim may have no idea, for instance, of all the costs and expenses they may incur months or years down the road.

On the other hand, insurance companies are more than happy to get a victim to sign a binding agreement for a deal that saves the company from making a payout that they really should be willing and ready to make.

For this and many other reasons, it is usually a good idea for someone who has suffered any significant injury in an automobile accident to consider consulting with and getting assistance from an experienced personal injury and auto accident attorney.

Getting help won’t cost an arm and a leg

Automobile accident attorneys understand that for accident victims, cash is tight. They already have bills and may be trying to figure out how to replace an income because of the injury.

Also, they are well aware that it often takes time for victims to get any insurance settlement checks, particularly if the company denies liability or delays making payments.

For this reason, there several payment arrangements that may be available.

For instance, in personal injury cases, many attorneys will offer a free initial consultation, meaning that it won’t cost victims and their families a penny to meet with a lawyer about their cases and go over options.

Moreover, many attorneys will offer to take an automobile accident case on a contingent fee basis. What this means is that the attorney agrees, in lieu of an hourly fee, to accept a percentage of whatever the victim recovers in damages.

This means that if the victim winds up recovering nothing, the victim does not owe an attorney fee.

As a caveat, the victim may still be expected to pay other litigation expenses, although an attorney taking a case on a contingent fee will often front these expenses.

Colorado’s ethics rules require all contingent fee agreement to be spelled out in writing and to follow certain other legal rules, so there hopefully will not be a lot of controversy about them.