A lawyer performs a service for his or her client. The lawyer hopes to get paid for that service. Lawyers that handle personal injury actions use the contingency fee as the basis for a payment.

The basic features of any contingency fee are that it becomes a contract between an injury lawyer and a client. The Personal Injury Lawyer in Corner Brook recovers a named percentage of the money that the client has received, in the way of compensation for damages. The client only pays the fee if the case has a successful outcome.

Features of fee that should be noted by personal injury lawyers:

• Percentage of funds taken from a client’s award varies between 25% and 40%.
• Clients that were involved in a motor vehicle accident usually pay 33% of their awarded compensation.
• The lawyer’s client remains responsible for the payment of taxes.
• Client has no say on how the lawyer handles procedural matters.
• Client does get to state the amount of money that should be included in a fair settlement.

The role of disbursements

Disbursements reimburse lawyers for expenses associated with specific actions. Lawyers often have to pay a fee for the privilege of copying material, for obtaining a medical record, or for filing a lawsuit. By seeking disbursements, an injury lawyer hopes to be compensated for such expenses. A client must pay disbursements plus the contingency fee.

Rules on covering the cost of an appeal:

If the defendant files for an appeal, the contingency fee does not cover the cost of the lawyer’s assistance during a second trial. Consequently, new arrangements must be made. In other words, a second contract has to be formulated.

If the lawyer fails to win the appeal, the plaintiff/client may owe some money to the defendant. Still, any personal injury lawyer could have a chance to benefit from the appeal process. He or she would enjoy that benefit, if a defendant sought that same injury lawyer’s help, with pursuing an appeal.

It could be that some defendant felt cheated by the size funds in a given plaintiff’s compensation package. In that case, the same defendant could appeal the decision. Then that unhappy defendant would need a lawyer, because the court would schedule a second trial. The defendant could keep the same injury lawyer, or hire a new one.

It could be that the second jury ordered a return to the defendant of a portion of the money paid to the plaintiff. If that were the case, the defendant would owe the hired lawyer a contingency fee. Hence, an appeal can produce a demand for more money from the defendant, or a return of some of the money awarded to the plaintiff.