If you have suffered a car accident in Miami, your immediate concern may not be to look for a car accident lawyer. This is understandable. Being in a car crash is a daunting experience. In addition to the injuries, the pain and the losses, you have to deal with the financial aspect of things. As medical bills start coming in, you confront the steep costs of healing and recovering.
In the meanwhile, a car crash injury may also prevent you from resuming your job for a period. This can result in lost wages and only exacerbates the financial problems.
When all of this is happening, many car crash victims tend not to think about hiring a lawyer. Why? This is because it is generally believed that car accident lawyers cost serious money. The good news is that this is not exactly true.
Even if you are in a financial crisis and have no money to spare after a car accident, you can still hire a good, qualified car accident lawyer. This is possible thanks to something called a contingency fee arrangement.
What is a Contingency Fee Arrangement?
A contingency fee arrangement is an agreement between you and your lawyer. This agreement dictates how and how much you will pay the lawyer for taking on your car accident case. As per a contingency arrangement, you don’t have to pay any money upfront. This allows you to hire the best lawyer and get the ball rolling on your damages claim.
The payment is then made once and only if your claim is successful. In other words, you are obliged to pay the attorney only if you successfully receive compensatory damages for your crash-related losses. If the insurer or the third-party is able to reject your claim, you owe your lawyer no money.
Such an arrangement has many obvious advantages for you as the plaintiff. As a car crash victim, you are naturally under financial stress at the time. A contingency arrangement lets you get sound legal help without the need to dish out a lot of money.
The payment is deferred until the success of the claim. This also plays to your advantage. Your lawyer is forced to take a genuine interest in your claim. This is because the lawyer will get paid only when your claim is successful. So the lawyer has a real stake in your claim’s success.
Another key advantage in a contingency arrangement is that you are shielded from any losses. In regular legal cases, plaintiffs who lose often have already spent a significant amount of money in legal fees. This is not the case when you don’t pay anything until the case is concluded.
How Much is the Contingency Fee?
The contingency fee is often agreed upon as a percentage of the final damages that you receive. The actual percentage varies from case to case. It depends on a number of factors such as the expectation of success, the time your case is likely to take, the difficulty of proving your claim, and so on.
It is best to go over the terms of the arrangement in detail with a lawyer before you hire legal help. You may also want to seek a percentage that is proportionate to the difficulty and complexity of your case.
Hiring Reliable South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have been in a car crash in Miami, it is imperative that you hire a good lawyer at the earliest. With good legal help, you have far better odds of successfully recovering compensatory damages for your crash-related losses. Without such help, your claim may be turned down by an insurer or the amount of damages reduced significantly.
Here at Englander Peebles, we specialize in helping South Florida car accident victims recover a fair amount of compensation for their losses. Our attorneys are reputable, highly qualified, and experienced in car accident cases. We also offer a fair contingency fee arrangement for all personal injury plaintiffs. Call us today to book a free consultation with our attorneys.