How much are attorney's fees and costs?

12/12/2024

Attorney's Fees and Costs

Attorney's fees and costs are an important part of any case. Many attorney's try to avoid the question or hide the ball from their clients. You'll hear slogans like "No fee unless we win" or "I don't get paid if you don't." These slogans are true for most Florida attorneys who take cases on a contingency basis. Read on for a brief overview of attorney's fees and costs.

Contingency Fee Cases

Contingency fee cases include cases such as car crashes, truck crashes, slip and falls, motorcycle accidents, and workers compensation cases. A contingency fee case means that the attorney will cover all the costs of litigation and gets paid as a percentage of a settlement or verdict when the case is over.

Most Florida accident attorney's charge about the same for these types of cases. The general fee is 33 1/3% of the settlement for a case that resolves before litigation and 40% of the settlement if the case is filed with the court.

Attorney's also recoup their costs. Costs include most out of pocket expenses related to your case and generally include:

Filing fees (generally in the range of $100.00 - $500.00)
Medical records fees (medical records are generally free or much cheaper for the patient to obtain than the attorney)
Expert witnesses
Service of process
Subpoena fees
Mailing costs

There are countless other costs that could be included depending on the specifics of your case.

Finally, before paying out your settlement, your attorney is required to resolve any medical liens. This means that if you incurred any doctor's bills related to the accident the doctor gets paid before you get your settlement check.

As an example, the average car accident case settles in the range of $30,000.00 in Florida. If we assume the attorney had costs of $500.00, this means that if it settles before filing with the court, you'll take home about $19,500.00.

If the same case is filed with the courts, attorney's fees and costs will both increase. If the case settles for $30,000.00 and the attorney has costs of $1,000.00, you'll take home $17,000.00.

Now assume your attorney does some litigation and takes a few depositions. The insurance company offers $35,000.00. This is a 16.67% increase, which seems great on paper! Breaking it down, your take home is $21,000.00 before costs. The additional litigation increases costs to $2,000.00. This means your take home is now $19,000.00 - $500 less than the pre-suit amount and it's several months later.

The takeaway here is that it's not always good to rush into litigation. If your attorney is quickly pushing you towards litigation take a step back to determine if it's really worth it and if your attorney is acting in your favor or seeking to inflate their attorney fee. 90-95% of personal injury cases settle before litigation.

That being said, there are many times when litigation is necessary and when litigation results in a substantially larger settlement amount. It's recommended to contact an experienced slip and fall lawyer or car accident lawyer, to discuss the specifics of your case. If you were injured in Orlando or anywhere in Florida, call Attorney Andrew Graves for a free consultation or complete our online consultation form and we’ll contact you.

Workers Comp Attorney's Fees

Workers compensation is still a contingency fee case, but is slightly different. In workers comp there is no set end point like in the typical civil case, which ends at trial. In a workers comp case, your attorney can win you benefits as the case continues.

The standard attorney fee in a workers compensation case is 25% of settlement plus costs. There is no moving percentage like in other contingency fee cases. The average Florida workers comp case settles for about $20,000.00. This means you would take home $15,000.00 before costs. If you assume costs of $500.00, then your take home would be $14,500.00.

In workers compensation, if your attorney files a Petition for Benefits, you'll likely see a section stating attorney's fees and costs. When your attorney "wins" (prevails on any issue) then your attorney can collect a fee from the insurance company. This doesn't affect 25% stated above.

When your workers compensation case settles, your attorney will need to justify the 25% fee. This involves your attorney going in front of a judge and describing what work was done on the case. If the judge decides that very little work was done, the judge may decrease the attorney fee.

If you were injured on the job in Florida it’s important to hire an experienced Florida workers comp lawyer. If you were injured in Sanford or anywhere in Florida, call Attorney Andrew Graves for a free consultation or complete our online consultation form and we’ll contact you.

Hourly Attorney's Fees

Hourly attorney's fees occur in all non-contingency fee cases. These generally include criminal, business, contract, immigration, or other civil litigation.

Hourly fees vary widely between attorneys and is based on the experience of the attorney and complexity of the issue.

Many criminal attorneys charge between $150.00 - $700.00+ per hour. You should discuss with your attorney the total cost before retaining an attorney.

Florida business litigation attorneys generally charge $150.00 - $500.00 per hour.

In hourly rate matter, attorney may also offer a flat fee.

Are Attorney's Fees Negotiable?

You may be wondering, can I negotiate attorney's fee? Some attorney's may be willing to negotiate attorney's fees some may not. In a bigger firm, the attorney you're speaking with might not have the authority to charge a lower fee. Whether an attorney is willing to lower their attorney's fees depends on the complexity of the case, the client, and the attorney.

Personally, there are times when I lower my fee at the end so that the client has a higher take home settlement.