Queens is a large borough in a big city. More people reside there than you can find in some entire states. If you live there, you might enjoy the many restaurants, night spots, employment opportunities, and more.
However, living in Queens isn’t without its dangers, just like anywhere else. For instance, maybe you need to contact a lawyer because you’re looking for a personal injury settlement. If so, you’ll have to find a firm with an excellent industry reputation and also one with a fee structure that you’ll accept.
You might wonder how much you can pocket if you win a personal injury lawsuit in Queens. We will talk about that in the following article.
How Much Do Most Personal Injury Law Firms Charge?
According to Oresky and Associates, “your attorney is entitled to a reasonable fee for their services.” That sounds fair enough, but what do you consider a reasonable fee? For the most part, you can expect to pay anywhere from 30-40% of the settlement or your winnings to the lawyer in these instances.
Maybe that sounds like a high number to you. For instance, if you win $100,000 from a personal injury lawsuit settlement, you’ll only pocket $60,000 in most cases. Perhaps that doesn’t seem fair, but you need to stop and think about it for a moment.
If you need to sue someone or some entity because they harmed you, you probably can’t do that on your own. You can try, but presumably, you have no law experience. You can’t very well study up on the law and know enough about it to represent yourself in court, or you probably won’t win your case, and you’ll lose your chance to get any money out of the deal.
When you hire a personal injury attorney in Queens or retain a law firm to help you with the whole process, you get all of their expertise. Maybe they’ve been in this industry for many years, and they know all the ins and outs during the pretrial process. Perhaps they can get you a settlement you’ll accept before the trial, and you’ll never have to appear in a courtroom.
You might prefer that. Perhaps you won’t get as much through a settlement as you could if you win a jury trial, but you also won’t have to go through the whole long, tedious court process. You won’t have to miss days or weeks of work sitting through a trial.
You won’t need to hire babysitters for your kids or ask the neighbors to care for them. You won’t put more pressure on a spouse or partner who you ask to watch the children and keep the house clean while you try to get your money.
When you think about all of that, 40% doesn’t seem like that much at all. Most people see it that way if they take some time and consider the matter.
Can You Keep More of Your Settlement or Winnings than That?
Maybe you don’t want to give your lawyer 40%. If that seems like too much, you can shop around and see if you can get a better deal. Sometimes you can, though you’re playing a risky game if you pursue other avenues.
For instance, maybe you get a personal injury lawyer who says they’ll only charge you 30% if they win your case. Perhaps they’ll even go as low as 25% or 20%.
However, if you agree to those terms, you might find you’ve hired a law firm with very little real-world courtroom experience. Maybe this lawyer just passed the bar, and they’re only agreeing to take less because they desperately need work.
If so, they can lose the case for you, even if it seems like a slam dunk. Perhaps an experienced lawyer could easily win with the evidence you produce, but an inexperienced personal injury attorney may botch the case, and you can walk away with nothing.
Maybe you can find an experienced personal injury lawyer willing to charge less than 40%, but they’ll insist on money up front, win or lose. Often, if you hire a personal injury lawyer or law firm, they will charge you on a contingency basis. You won’t give them any money until they win the case for you, and you’ll give them nothing if they don’t.
A lawyer who agrees to take less than 40% might want money upfront, and maybe you don’t have it. You may also drain your bank accounts coming up with that cash, and perhaps the trial doesn’t go in your favor. Now, you get no winnings, and you’ve lost that money you already paid the lawyer or law firm to hire them in the first place.
Make the Right Decision Depending on Your Situation
If you need to file a personal injury lawsuit in Queens, you must think about your situation and make a decision you feel makes the most sense for your unique situation. You’ll seldom see two identical legal cases, and you must consider what action to take depending on several crucial factors.
Talk to your family about what they feel you should do. Think about the pressure that a potential trial process might put on them. If they agree that you should pursue a personal injury lawsuit, and they are willing to ride it out with you, you can start looking for experienced lawyers and talk to them about your options.
Most times, you’re better off accepting a legal fee in the 30-40% range, even if you’re sad watching that cash go into the lawyer’s pockets. Understand that they probably fought hard for you, and they earned that money.
Also, getting some cash out of this whole deal beats getting no money at all, and you probably can’t win your lawsuit without the right lawyer by your side. The money you pocket can help you with medical bills, rent, and everything else for which you must pay.
