Lawyers charge for representing their clients. The lawyers’ charges take the form of both costs and fees.
Costs are different from fees.
Personal injury lawyers take pride in their method for charging a fee. Each of their clients pays a contingency fee. That means that the client with a personal injury attorney pays to that legal representative an agreed-upon percentage of each compensation package. A dedicated attorney devotes a great deal of time to each client’s case. Consequently, that same lawyer would not want to represent someone that had sustained only a minor injury. On the other hand, someone with a major injury should benefit from the services of a personal injury lawyer in Medicine Hat.
Not all lawyers have a fee schedule that copies that of a legal expert on personal injuries. Some of them charge an hourly rate. In that case, the client pays more, if his or her needs eat into the lawyer’s time by necessitating a search for specific documents. Those would be documents that could be used to win the client’s anticipated compensation.
Some lawyers charge a flat fee. Some seek a retainer, which is paid when the attorney has agreed to take on the retainer-paying client. No matter what type of fee might be charged by a firm or a single attorney, that firm’s office and that attorney’s office must deal with specific costs.
Legal costs
Those men and women that offer their services to the legal system do not work for free. Each of them earns a salary. Anyone that expects to make use of the legal system should anticipate helping to cover various legal costs. Lawyers pay when they must file a client’s papers. The legal system sends a bill to anyone that rents a room for a discovery session. By the same token, anyone using a court reporter during a discovery session needs to arrange for payment of that same reporter.
The copying of papers costs money. The mailing of documents costs money. Expert witnesses charge a fee. Demands for travel can add to the lawyer’s list of expenses. All those are costs, which must be covered by the attorney’s client. A personal injury lawyer often gets reimbursed for payment of such costs by taking the reimbursement from the money awarded to the client. In that way, the clients do not get hit with a large bill. Such a system encourages clients to consider hiring a personal injury lawyer.
A personal injury attorney must also reimburse any health insurance company that paid for the client’s medical services. Clients do not have to pay into the fund that covers the health insurers. Still, clients do get to benefit from the insurers’ offered services.