There Are Three Main Kinds of Fees Charged by Lawyers
One way lawyers charge fees is through what is called a "Contingency Fee". A "contingency fee" means that the lawyer gets a percentage of the money he recovers for the client. The fee is "contingent" upon the lawyer winning money for the client. If the client gets nothing, neither does the lawyer.
Almost all personal injury cases and many claims against insurance companies are handled on a contingency fee basis. There is, however, no legal requirement that personal injury cases be handled on a contingency fee basis. But, accident victims usually suffer financial loss and are not able to pay hourly fees as the lawyers works on the case. More importantly, when an attorney takes a contingency fee case the client can feel assured that the lawyer has confidence in the case. In contrast, when the lawyer takes a case on an hourly fee, the lawyer is going to get paid regardless of results so the client has to depend on the lawyer's honesty and legal judgment when the client decides it it worthwhile to pursue a case on an hourly basis.
In a contingency fee arrangement the lawyer usually pays for costs of litigation which are then charged back to the client when the case is settled or a judgment paid. The biggest cost items for cases that are either tried or prepared for trial are expert witness fees. If the case is tried it is usually necessary to pay a doctor a large fee to come to court and testify about the client's injuries. In a medical malpractice case it will be necessary to hire a doctor in the same specialty as the doctor being sued to testify why the doctor being sued violated the standard of care. In a products liability case an expert will have to be hired in most cases to explain why the product is defective.
If the case is not tried, but suit is filed and the case is prepared for trial, costs will include the filing fee and often smaller payments to expert witnesses for written opinions. There may also be fees for depositions of expected trial witnesses. (Depositions are proceedings in a lawyer's office in which the expected witness is placed under oath and asked questions by attorney. A court reporter takes down the questions and answers.)
Note: There are some types of cases in which lawyers are not allowed to charge a contingency fee. These include divorce and criminal defense cases. However, contingency fees may be allowed in regards to petitons to MODIFY spousal and/or child support payments.
Our firm generally charges a contingency fee for personal injury matters. For other kinds of cases, we usually charge an hourly rate or a flat fee.
A second type of fee is the straight hourly rate, usually with a retainer to cover several hours paid up front. This kind of fee is usually charged for business, contract, and criminal defense matters. The hourly rate charged by our firm, like many other firms, depends on the complexity of the work and which specific lawyer handles it.
The third type of fee is a flat fee. For example, our firm currently offers to handle ancilliary probate matters in regards to time shares located in Clark County, NV for a flat fee of $1100. The flat fee of $1200 includes about $900 for attorney fees and about $300 for the court fees and County Recorder's Office filing fees.
Many clients are afraid that lawyers who charge by the hour will take advantage of them. There is a growing tendency, even among large law firms handling matters for big businesses to charge flat rates. We try to offer a flat rate in many cases in which we do not offer a contingency fee.
The State Bar has a fee dispute committee that will hear without charge a client's complaint that an attorney charged an unreasonable fee. Usually the committee will find a fee okay if the client and lawyer agreed to the fee in advance and the lawyer did the work agreed upon. Many complaints to fee dispute committee are that the lawyer collected an upfront fee and then failed to do the work. See our webpage: Attorney v. Client Fee Disputes
We believe are very competitive and low cost in many areas. We believe that clients and lawyers should have a clear understanding of fees. Don't be shy about asking us what our fee will be and what it will include. The best way to avoid misunderstandings is to discuss fees up front. In many areas we believe we are the low cost provider of quality legal services and welcome fee inquiries.