In injury cases, the client has options as to how to pay his/her attorney. The attorney can be paid by the hour for his work on the case, by coming to an agreement as to a flat fee, or by paying the attorney a percent (a contingent fee) of the amount recovered from the at-fault party or from the injured party’s own insurance company in the case where he/she is injured by an uninsured motorist or an underinsured motorist. If the client decides to pay the attorney on a percentage basis, then no fee is due to the attorney unless he obtains a recovery for the person injured.

The development of any claim necessarily requires expenses to be incurred for investigators, court filing fees, costs to obtain medical records, costs for consultations with treating physicians, costs for creating exhibits, deposition costs, costs for the reports of expert witnesses, costs for preparing expert witnesses for depositions and trial, and the costs incurred to pay the expert witness to attend the trial and provide testimony.

Typically, a contingent fee agreement provides that an attorney may advance these costs on behalf of the client. If the attorney advanced these costs on behalf of the client, then he is reimbursed these costs from any settlement or judgment obtained by the attorney. While no fee is due the attorney under a contingent fee agreement if no settlement or judgment is recovered, the client may still be liable to the attorney for costs the attorney has advanced to develop the case.

If you need to speak with a Denver, Colorado personal injury attorney, call me at 720-270-2500. There is no charge for a phone or office consultation.