You wouldn’t blindly hire a contractor to make repairs to your house without first finding out what it costs – as you’d likely be shocked when the bill comes. The same reasoning applies when hiring an attorney. However, there are other aspects to hiring an attorney of which every consumer should be aware.

Contingency fees

Auto accident attorneys are generally paid by contingency fee, which means that they don’t collect unless they recover money for you. We asked Tim Young, a Louisiana attorney whose practice handles all aspects of auto accident cases, to explain how this works. Here’s what he told us:

Our office will charge a range of 35% to 40% of the total recovery on automobile cases. The difference depends on the seriousness of the injury and the complexity of the case. With very simple cases, our office charges 35% of the total recovery. We have handled very many complicated cases in the past where it’s necessary to: prove insurance coverage, hire liability experts and pay for doctors and testing. Typically, the fee on those cases is 40% of the recovery. I believe our fees are very consistent with other offices that do the same type and quality of work that we do.

Beware of firms who use sliding scales

Young says that one thing that consumers should beware of is that a lot of law firms will charge an initial lower rate of one third (33%) of the recovery if no suit is filed. He explained, “Sometimes that amount goes up to 40% if a suit is filed – and can be as high as 50% if an appeal is necessary. Our office does not do any type of increase in scale based upon how much commitment we make to the case. When we take a case in, we know what the case will involve and believe that being upfront about fees is more fair to the consumer.”

Avoid firms who charge up-front costs

Young believes that absolutely no out of pocket expenses should exist for the clients in a typical automobile case. He continued, “Frankly, if the firm is asking the client to pay upfront costs or filing fees before the end of the case, then that is probably a bad sign in terms of the firm not being familiar with the case or not wanting to put their own money into the case. Our office always advances all of the costs that are needed on a case and we never ask a client to pay any of the costs as the case proceeds. We like to tell clients that they will never have to write us a check out of their bank account. We simply take the fees and expenses from whatever we’re able to get them.”

If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of law. Click here, to contact a qualified Louisiana Car Accident attorney for a free, no-obligation consultation.