What is correct fee Lawyer can charge for Auto case?

Hello,
I live in NY state, and my auto accident case just settled after taking 5 years and we did not go to trial. Is there a set rate or percentage a lawyer gets? Does this fee change from city to city, or is it set by state?

The reason I ask, is because after we settle out of court and I was showed the amount to be received. his take home was only 4K difference from mine.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and help out.



Mike Douglas

Okay. First you and the lawyer should have signed a fee agreement up front in which his fees were set.

In most states the rate a lawyer can charge in a routine auto accident case is fully negotiable between the parties. It tends to vary from a low of 25% to the standard 33-1/3rd% to 40% at the high end. (In medical malpractice cases New York has strict rules limiting what lawyers can charge, but I am not aware of any limits on other cases -- a practicing New York lawyer could tell you.)

Some law firms create incentives to settle -- such as 30% before filing an action in court, 35% if court action commenced and 40% if it is is settled at or just before trial.

IN EACH CASE and in virtually every state the law firm's out of pocket expenses are deducted off the top, so that if the lawyers hired an investigator for $2,500, and a medical expert for $3,000 and an accident reconstruction firm for $3,500 and did depositions costing $1,000 the total of the expenses is $10k and that comes out first, sometimes with interest, before applying the percentage to determine the fee.

Here is how it works. Say the case settled for $30k. The lawyers get reimbursed for the $10k in expenses, leaving $20k to be split. Say you are paying a 40% contingency fee. That means the lawyers also get $8,000 as their fee. You get $12,000 which is 60% of the $20k. Here the lawyers earned only $4k less than you did. You might even think they earned $18k -- but remember the out of pockets they get off the top only reimburses them for actual expenses incurred.

NY standard (and max) is 1/3 for all non-med mal cases.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. This is one great site, keep up the work!





Mike