If you are hurt in an accident and hire a personal injury attorney, it is normal for the attorney to be paid on a contingency basis, meaning that he is compensated from any settlement or verdict amount you receive at the end of the case. This contingency fee varies but it is usually in the range of 33% of the settlement or verdict amount.

However, there may be more expenses and fees that you have to pay. Personal injury attorneys know that injured clients are often short of cash and may have difficulty paying for the various legal fees that come up as the case proceeds. It is customary for the attorney to pay for many of these fees out of pocket, and then to be reimbursed at the end from settlement or verdict proceeds.

Some of the fees that you may need to pay at the end of the case include:

Expert witness fees
Postage
Filing fees
Costs to hire personal investigators
Costs for obtaining and preparing medical records and police reports
Trial exhibit costs

When you sit down with a personal injury attorney and are considering that he represents you, it is important to have a very clear understanding of what all the costs and fees will be. The contract should very clearly spell out what his contingency fee is and what his policy is on out of pocket costs and how they are reimbursed.

I have Heard Some Law Firms Have Hidden Fees