Attorney Fees and Costs (Car Accidents and Personal Injury Cases)

This is the most complete guide to personal injury attorney fees and costs online.

So if you want to:

• Learn how much attorneys take from a settlement in car accidents and other cases
• See real examples of lawyer fees from car accident and other personal injury cases
• Find out what attorneys cannot charge for (It will SHOCK you.)

Then you’ll love the detailed examples and tips in today’s guide. I’ve made understanding legal fees simpler and more transparent than ever before.

Let’s dive right in.

Let’s start off with some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about attorney’s fees and costs in an injury case.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Injury Lawyer Fees

What is our Average Cost in a Personal Injury case?

Earlier I talked about what costs are.  Typically, they include the cost of paying to get the injured person’s medical records, bills, the crash report, certified mail, and some other things.  In some cases, other costs include amounts that we pay the injured person’s doctor for a conference.  We are more likely to incur this cost in a bigger case.

Every case is different.  Thus, no two cases have the exact same cost.  In 2020, our average cost for our personal injury settlements is under $100.00. And the same was true for 2019.

Part of the reason why my average cost is so so low is because I’ve had many injury settlement where the costs are almost nothing.

Lawyer Fees on a $350K Car Accident Settlement

In 2020, Sam (not real name) was riding his bike in South Florida.  At the same time, Joe (not real name) was in his car heading north.  Joe was turning to go Eastbound. 

While Sam rode his bike westbound in the crosswalk crossing, Joe accidentally hit him with his car.  

You can see a crash diagram below:

As a result of the car hitting him, Sam broke 3 bones in his ankle.

You can see one of his broken lower leg bones here:

At the hospital, a doctor drilled screws into a plate in Sam’s leg.

You can see a photo that the doctor took during the surgery:

After he left the hospital, Sam searched for a South Florida lawyer with experience in similar cases. He appreciated that I was open about my lawyer fees and costs. He found me. Sam called my office and I gave him a free consultation. Shortly after we spoke, Sam hired me.

GEICO insured the driver (and owner) of the car that hit Sam. Due to pain and swelling in his ankle, the doctor removed the plate and screws.

Sam had Medicaid, a Medicaid HMO and another temporary assistance program.  They paid under $6,400 to the hospital and his doctors.  And the hospitals and doctors adjusted (reduced) the bills to zero.  In other words, Sam will did not owe the hospital or doctors any money.  

GEICO offered $100,000 to settle Sam’s car accident injury claim. Insurance companies often make low first offers. Their hope is that the injured person (or their attorney) will accept the low offer, or an amount close to it.

The defense lawyer told me that the offer was fair. We told Sam to let us reject it. Fortunately, he did.

In 2021, through intense negotiation, GEICO paid us $350,000 to settle Sam’s personal injury claim.

The best part?

We settled without the stress and expenses of a lawsuit.

Thus, my attorney’s fee was 33 1/3% of the total settlement. My costs were under $160. My lawyer fee and costs were $116,824, which was 33.4% of the total settlement.

After my attorney fees and costs, and paying back the Medicaid liens, Sam got $226,818 of the settlement in his pocket.

This chart makes it easy to understand:

You can see the $300,000 car accident injury settlement check below (redacted):

They also sent us a $50,000 settlement check from the driver’s personal umbrella insurance policy.

You can see the redacted settlement check below:

Sam was happy that he hired me to handle his car accident claim. Sure, after we settled, I was paid my lawyer fees and small costs from the total settlement.

But this saved Sam from loads of uncertainty, stress and a potential small settlement.

Lawyer Fees on a $300,000 Car Accident Payout (Example)

Earlier, I told you about a $300,000 car accident settlement. I wanted to share a bit more about that case.

Ryan was driving his car in Clearwater, Florida. Another driver made a left turn into Ryan’s car. Here is the crash diagram:

Ryan’s car was badly damaged.

He had bad pain in his leg and knee.

You can see him laying on the ground after the accident.

The other driver’s car also sustained heavy damage.

Take a look:

At the hospital, someone took a photo Ryan.

Check it out:

Here is another image that focuses more on the equipment that was used to monitor his vitals:

He had a broken leg (tibial plateau). While in the hospital, Ryan searched for car accident lawyers. He found our website and decided to get a free consultation with me.

He asked me several questions about how lawyer fees work in a car accident case. Since he was working at the time of his accident, his employer was responsible for paying Ryan’s medical bills through workers’ compensation.

I told Ryan that the law required him to pay back his workers compensation insurer from his settlement.

I also explained to him, that if he hired me, his workers’ compensation provider would need to reduce its pay back request (called a lien) from any car accident settlement by my lawyer’s fees and costs. This is often a huge benefit to you if you injured in an accident caused by someone else. In a moment, you’ll see how this put more money Ryan’s pocket.

After we spoke, he hired me. At the hospital, doctors performed surgery on his leg.

In particular, they put a plate and screws into his leg.

After surgery, the doctor put a cast on his leg.

When he left the hospital, he could not walk. He was wheeled out of the hospital.

Allstate insured the careless driver’s car.  However, he only had $10,000 in bodily injury liability (BIL) coverage. Within 8 days of the car accident, Allstate sent me a check for the $100,000 BIL limits.

However, I did not want to deposit the check. Since Ryan had Georgia uninsured motorist insurance, we needed to keep the at fault driver in the case.

In order for Ryan to go to orthopedic visits and physical therapy, a medical transport van would come to his home. There, someone would load him into a van while he was in a wheelchair.

Ultimately, Ryan made a good recovery.

I settled with Allstate for the $100,000 BIL limits.

Travelers was his uninsured motorist insurer. 

They paid me $200,000 to settle. 

Here is the Travelers Insurance settlement check:

In total, the car accident injury settlement amount was $300,000.

My lawyer fees on his car accident settlement were $100,000. Costs were additional.

Costs in his case were much higher than most of my other car accident cases. This is because the at fault driver died, and we had to hire a personal representative to keep his probate estate open.

After my attorney’s fees, costs and paying the medical bills and final workers’ comp lien, Ryan got over $187,000 in his pocket.

Chart Shows My Lawyer Fees in this $300,000 Car Accident Payout

This chart shows the final workers’ compensation lien, my lawyer fees and much more:

Basically, Ryan got 62% of the $300,000 settlement in his pocket.

Now:

How was I was able to put so much money in Ryan’s pocket after my attorney’s fees in this car accident case?

Because Ryan had an attorney, his employer had to reduce its workers’ compensation claim by my pro-rata attorney’s fees and costs. Workers’ comp paid around $85,000 in this case. They had to reduce this amount by my lawyers fees and costs.

This resulted in an instant savings of over $28,000 to Ryan! Again, he only got that savings because he had attorney.

I didn’t stop there. I was further able to get down the $85,000 workers comp lien. In the end, we only had to pay back workers’ comp around $3,000.

If Ryan did not have an attorney in this car accident case, he would have had to pay the workers compensation company back over $28,000 more. And probably much more than that. This is because workers comp would not have reduced their payback claim by my pro-rata attorney’s fees and costs.

Personal Injury Lawyer Fees ($300,000 Slip and Fall Settlement)

Frank was shopping at Sedano’s Supermarket in Miami, Florida when he slipped and fell. As a result of his fall, the incision (from a prior surgery) on the back of his lower leg re-opened. Frank needed two skin grafts to close the wound.

The claims company for Sedanos denied liability and offered nothing. The supermarket’s attorney sent me this photo of my client on the floor after the fall:

So I sued the supermarket.

We settled the lawsuit for $300,000 a couple of months before trial.

Below, you can see my personal injury law fees and costs on this payout:

Uber Car Accident Lawyer Fees on a $260K Settlement

Ray was driving an Uber car in Miami, Florida. Another driver was heading in an opposite direction and hit the Uber driver.

Here is the actual diagram from the Florida traffic crash report, except that I added the arrow and words “Uber driver”:

Due to his back pain, he spent several days in the hospital.

He called me from Coral Gables Hospital.

I met him there and took this photo:

He had a fracture of one of the lamina of his vertebrae (in his spine).

You can see the lamina below:

Fortunately, he did not need surgery and his pain improved.

I settled Ray’s personal injury case against the other driver’s insurance company for $260,000.

This chart shows my attorney’s fees in his car accident case:

This chart does not include that interest that I had to pay back on loans that Ray took.

Attorney Fees on a $250,000 Slip and Fall Payout

Angela was staying at a resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. That’s close to Disney World and Universal Studios. She stepped into the bathtub in her hotel room.

This is the actual tub:

Seconds later, she slipped and fell.

I give lots of credit to Angela’s husband for taking photos of the tub. After your fall or other accident, always take pictures and/or video of the hazard.

As a result, she broke her arm.

About 17 days after her slip and fall, the hotel’s insurance company still had not contacted Angela.

But don’t take my word for it.

See it for yourself:

Remember:

Insurance adjusters have hundreds of claims. Yours is just one of them.

So she began her search for a Florida slip and fall lawyer. Before hiring me as her injury attorney, she saw that we settled a hotel bathtub slip and fall case for $197,500. And we did so without a lawsuit!

In Angela’s case, we claimed that the bathtub surface was unreasonably slippery. Philadelphia Insurance Company insured the hotel.

Their first offer to me was just $12,500!

We continued negotiating.

My paralegal and I spent hours searching the internet for complaints about the slippery nature of this hotel’s bathtub.

And I struck some gold!

I found some online reviews where people complained about the bathtubs at this hotel. I sent these complaints to the hotel’s insurance company.

The adjuster made a $205K offer:

sent the insurance company

We settled Angela’s injury claim against the hotel for $250,000. About $225,000 of the $250,000 settlement was for her pain and suffering.

It gets better:

My costs were just $35.00 to send Angela her portion of the settlement, which was $157,353.

My costs would have been under $7.00 if she would have wanted us to send her the check via certified mail. Of course, she was welcome to come to my office to pick up the check. However, she didn’t choose this option.

Can you blame her?

My office is about four hours from where she lives (and was injured). Yet, she trusted me to handle her case.

Don’t you love the power of telephones and email?

Not to mention Skype, Whats App, or Google Hangouts. We use all of the above.

Our costs would have been zero if Angela would have picked up the check at my office. However, she wants us to wire her the funds. Currently, my bank charges $35 for a domestic wire. And $50 for an international wire.

The $197,500 settlement that I mentioned above was for an out of state visitor who was injured in Florida. We’ve settled over $1 million in cases for out of state visitors who were hurt in Florida car accidents.)

Lawyer Fees on $240,000 Trip and Fall Settlement

Shirley was staying at a hotel in Hollywood, Florida. While she was in the pool courtyard, she tripped over a raised edge in the walkway. She said that she didn’t see it before she tripped.

Shirley had horrible shoulder pain. Paramedics came to the hotel and took her to the hospital.

There, an x-ray showed that she broke her upper arm bone (humerus).

Shortly thereafter, she searched for a hotel injury lawyer. I gave her a free consultation and she hired me.

After the fall, Shirley’s friend came to the hotel. She took a photo showing that the general area was blocked off.

As you can see from the photo, yellow caution tape was put up after the fall.

I added a red arrow to the area where Shirley claimed that she tripped and fell.

Take a look:

A doctor put a plate and screws in Shirley’s shoulder to fix her arm.

This is an x-ray of her plate and screws in her arm.

They used staples to sew up her arm.

You can see the staples:

Medicare paid most of her medical bills.

After a whopping 10 offers later, we settled with the hotel’s insurance company for over $240,000.

Here’s the redacted settlement check:

We had to pay Medicare back from the $240,000 settlement.

However, Medicare was required to reduce their claim by lawyer fees and costs. This is a big benefit of hiring a lawyer.

We paid Medicare $6,543 from the settlement.

After my attorney fees, costs, and paying Medicare and Shirley’s other health plans, she got $154,595 in her pocket.

I did not charge her a fee on $5,000 of the settlement, which was from the Medical payments coverage in the hotel’s insurance policy.

Shirley gave us a 5 star review on Google Maps.

She said:

Justin and Jenny [paralegal] are incredible!! They delivered in a big way financially helping me secure a significant settlement.

They also delivered in a caring way, understanding I was going through a very difficult and challenging time.

They were empathetic and personable; their world guidance and advise made everything so much easier for me.

I cannot thank them enough. I highly recommend working with them.

Lawyer Fees in a $170,000 Car Accident Settlement

Zach was a passenger in a rental car in Florida. The driver of the rental car crashed into the back of the car in front of him.

Here is a photo of the rental car after the accident:

As a result of the crash, Zach broke his arm. Someone took this photo while he was in the hospital.

Zach returned to his home state of West Virginia.

There, a doctor put a plate and screws into his upper arm bone (humerus).

This is an actual image taken after his surgery:

I settled Zach’s personal injury case for $170,000 with the rental car company’s insurance company (ESIS/ACE).

My lawyer fees were 33-1/3% of the total settlement. Again, my costs were almost zero.

Take a look:

After I my attorney’s fees, costs and paying Zach’s medical bills, he got a check for $56,696. He was very happy!

Car Accident Lawyer Fees ($125K GEICO Settlement)

Richie was heading straight on a street in East Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Another driver ran a stop sign and crashed into Richie.

This was a heavy impact crash.

This is a photo of Richie’s police car after the accident.

I love representing police officers. I’ve representing many.

GEICO insured the other driver. As a result of the crash, Richie broke a bone in his hand.

Specifically, he broke his fifth metacarpal.

He called me and we spoke. I drove to his house in West Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

He hired me. A doctor operated on his hand.

Fortunately, he recovered great.

Ultimately, I settled the case with GEICO for $125,000. After my attorney’s fees, costs and paying my client’s medical bills and his workers’ compensation lien, my client got 64% of the settlement in his pocket.

Car Accident Lawyer Fees on a $100K Settlement

Sara was driving her SUV in South Florida. Another driver crashed into her.

Sara’s vehicle is #2 in the actual Florida traffic crash diagram below:

Check out the damage to Sara’s car:

As a result of the accident, she broke her nose.

She also had neck and back pain.

The paramedics put a C-collar on her neck.

After the accident, Sara’s relative recommended me as a car accident lawyer. I had represented Sara’s relative in a car accident injury case.

Next, I spoke with Sara and she hired me. I sent a written request for GEICO to tell me how much bodily injury liability (BIL) coverage it had.

GEICO responded in writing:

A pain management doctor performed a nerve block on her lower back.

This is what a nerve block looks like:

He wanted to operate on her back. However, Sara did not have surgery.

Sara did not have uninsured motorist insurance coverage. GEICO paid me the $100,000 BIL limits to settle.

Sara got 56.5% of the total settlement in her pocket, which was $56,604.

My attorney’s fee was 33 1/3% of the settlement.

My costs were under $7.00.

Example of Car Accident lawyer Fees in a $100K Settlement

Vince (not real name) was riding a motorcycle in Miami, Florida. Another car was heading in the opposite direction. The car made a left hand turn and hit Vince.

Here is the actual diagram from the Florida traffic crash report:

This is the damage to his motorcycle:

Vince had pain in his knee, testicle and back. However, he did not go to the hospital. Shortly after this accident, he called and hired me.

I quickly sent him to a doctor who treated him and gave him therapy on his knee and lower back. An MRI showed that my client had a herniated disc.

This is the actual axial MRI view of his herniated disc:

I also referred him to a urologist, Dr. Maury Jayson, MD, for his testicle pain. Dr. Jayson diagnosed him with erectile dysfunction (ED).

I demanded GEICO’s $100,000 bodily injury liability (BIL) insurance limits.

Can you guess what GEICO’s response was?

They offered just $5,500! Here is the letter where they made that offer:

Of course, I refused their lowball offer. I met with an orthopedic doctor who reviewed the actual MRI film with me in person.

He said that my client had a real herniated disc.

Through intense negotiation, and not backing off my demand, we settled the case for the $100,000 BIL limits. Like most motorcycle riders in Florida, my client did not have uninsured motorist insurance coverage.

I paid the urologist $750 for a one time exam of my client. He would only see my client if we paid him before the medical visit. To keep it simple, I included that cost in the final medical bills below.

Using these figures, my fees and costs were only 33.4% of the total settlement.

After my lawyer fees in this car accident case, and paying my client’s medical bills, I sent my client a check for $56,756.

$90K Car Accident Settlement (Client got over $54K in her pocket)

In May 2019, Alice was walking as a pedestrian in South Florida. Sofia was driving a car. Sofia’s car hit Alice.

Here is the diagram from the Florida traffic crash report:

Progressive insured Sofia. After the accident, Sofia called 911.

Her glasses broke in the fall. Paramedics came to the scene. She had pain in her leg and face.

Alice had a bruise on her face.

They took Alice to the hospital.

They took a CT scan of her head.

This is what a CT scan looks like:

However, it did not show that she had a head injury.

Ultimately, an x-ray showed that she had a fracture of the distal fibula.

This is the part of the smaller lower leg bone that is closer to the ankle. Basically, she had an ankle fracture.

Alice’s relative searched for Miami car accident attorneys. She saw that I had settled many personal injury cases with Progressive. In one of these cases, Progressive’s settled with me for $100,000 after a pedestrian who was hit by a car.

But that was not it. Additionally, I settled another case for $65,000 where a pedestrian was hit by a car and broke his ankle. She also saw our 5 star rating on Google maps. She called me and got a Free consultation to see if I could represent her relative. Next, she recommended to Alice that she hire me.

Alice called me. After we spoke, she immediately hired me.

I quickly jumped into action. We requested Progressive’s insurance limits. I requested the audio recording of the 911 call. On the call, the driver said that she had an accident.  Sofia said that Alice walked into her car.

Progressive’s First Offer Was $50K

Progressive initially assigned bodily injury liability adjuster David Toro to handle the claim. We told Progressive to pay for Alice’s broken eye glasses. They paid for a new pair.

David offered us $50,000 to settle Alice’s bodily injury claim.

We refused it.

Later, Progressive assigned large loss/litigation adjuster Greg Paulson to the case. Greg increased Progressive’s offer to $55,000.

He told me that he did not see her claim as being worth $100,000 for several reasons. First, he blamed Alice for walking in front of his insured’s car. I disputed this by providing Greg with a photo of the accident scene. It showed that the driver had a clear line of sight and should not have hit Alice.

Second, Progressive argued that Alice did not have surgery to her ankle. As I’ve said before, surgery greatly increases the value of the case. Greg told me that he felt that the claim was worth somewhere around $75,000.

I aggressively negotiated this claim with Progressive. Finally, Greg increased his offer to $90,000. In November 2019, I settled the bodily injury case with Progressive for $90,000.

Here is Progressive’s settlement check:

Take a look at Progressive’s first offer as compared to their final offer.

Now, let’s look at how much of the settlement was for pain and suffering vs medical bills.

95% of the Settlement Was for Pain and Suffering

Here is a pie graph that shows the breakdown (of the settlement) between pain and suffering and medical bills:

As you can see from the pie graph above, 94% of the settlement was for pain and suffering. About 6% of the settlement was for medical bills.

After my contingency fees and costs, paying Alice’s out of pocket medical bills and health insurance lien, she gets over $54,000. That is her portion of the settlement.

Here is a chart that shows this:

Since Alice owned a car, she used her PIP coverage to pay for her medical bills. United Auto Insurance Company (UAIC) was Alice’s auto insurer. Her out of pocket medical bills were low because United’s PIP paid for $10,000 of her medical bills.

The best part?

We got this payout without having to sue. This benefited my client because my attorney’s fee was capped at 33 1/3% of the total settlement.

If I would have sued, my attorney’s fee would have shot up to 40% of the settlement. Also, my client avoided the stress and increased costs associated with a lawsuit. I do not sue just to drive up my fees.

My client was very happy with this $90,000 settlement.

Lawyer Fees in a $70K Car Accident Payout (Example)

I represented a passenger who was in a Lyft car accident. Another car crashed into the back of the Lyft car.

He had a foot and hand injury. He did not break any bones or have surgery.

My client did not have health insurance. So I referred my client to doctors who would give him client medical treatment if agreed to repay them from any settlement. He agreed and got therapy with them.

I provided documentation to GEICO to support the fact that my client’s case was worth more than its driver’s $25,000 bodily injury liability insurance limits. GEICO paid me the $25,000 policy limits.

At the time of the accident, Lyft had a huge uninsured motorist bodily injury limit on its policy. Lyft’s insurance company paid $45,000.

(Sadly, Lyft no longer has uninsured motorist coverage in Florida. Surprisingly, Uber has uninsured motorist coverage once the driver accepts the ride through dropping off the passenger.)

Since we settled the case before a lawsuit, my attorney’s fee was 33-1/3 of the $70,000 settlement.

After we settled the case, I was required to use 19% of the settlement funds to pay back his doctors. I then wrote my client a check for $33,608, which is 48% of the settlement.

Car Accident Lawyer Fees ($50K Motorcycle Wreck Payout)

Pat was riding his motorcycle in Land O Lakes, Pasco County, Florida.

You can see his motorcycle below:

The closest big city nearby is Tampa.

As you can see in the diagram below, a driver of a car crashed into him.

Pat broke his collarbone (clavicle). This is the x-ray of his collarbone:

Pat told me that he had bruising on his collarbone and chest.

I told him to take photos of it.

You can see a photo below.

Shortly after the accident, he searched on the internet for motorcycle accident attorneys in Florida.

He called my office to get a free consultation to see if I could represent him. After we spoke, he immediately hired me.

Travelers Insurance Company insured the car who hit him. Fortunately, Travelers is a decent insurance company. That said, Travelers may still lowball you.

For example, I represented a man who broke his restaurant while eating in a restaurant. Travelers would not offer me more than $20,000 to settle.

As a result, I sued the restaurant. During the lawsuit, I fought hard. I took depositions (testimony under oath). About two months before trial, we settled for $210,000.

Now, let’s get back to Pat’s motorcycle accident example.

Travelers’ bodily injury liability policy limits were $50,000.

I Got this $50K Payout in Just 38 Days!

Within just 38 days of the motorcycle accident, I settled Pat’s injury case for the $50,000 limits.

The best part?

Our costs were just $6.59! 

Yes, that’s under $10.

I’ve settled several personal injury cases for clients where there was no cost. Of course, I still charge my attorney’s fee.

Also, as I’ve said above, I always charge an attorney’s fee if we settle the case.  When I use the term “costs”, I am not referring to outstanding bills that the injured person owes the hospital, doctor or another medical provider.

In Pat’s case, I charged my 33 1/3% attorney’s fee of the $50,000. It was $16,666.66.

Pat’s health insurance paid a little over $3,700 to the hospital and his doctors. Since he had a Florida health insurance policy, it had a right to get repaid from his settlement.

After health insurance paid his bills, Pat’s out of pocket medical bills were under $380.

How much did Pat get in his pocket after my personal injury lawyer fees, costs and his medical bills/liens?

Pat got 59% of the settlement in his pocket after my attorney’s fees and costs, and paying his medical bills and health insurance lien.

After my attorney’s fees, costs and paying his medical bills/liens, Pat got $29,235 in his pocket.

The best part?

He was happy with his settlement.

Car Accident lawyer Fees in This $35K Settlement

Sandra’s employer gave her a car to use for work. In August 2020, Sandra was driving east in Crestview (near Pensacola), Florida. Daniel was in a car heading south. He ran a stop sign.

As a result, the front of Sandra’s car struck the passenger side of Daniel’s car.

You can see the damage to Sandra’s car here:

You can see the actual diagram from the crash report here:

State Farm insured Daniel’s car (#1 in the diagram) with $25,000 in bodily injury liability insurance coverage.

After the accident, Sandra had back and neck pain. She said that her workers’ compensation insurance company gave her limited information about how wage loss worked.

Sandra searched Google for how wage loss works with workers’ compensation. She found my website my website. She got a free consultation with me.Get a Free Consultation

After we spoke, she hired me.

An MRI that showed that she had a herniated disc.

Sandra was working at the time of her accident. Thus, her workers’ compensation paid all of her medical bills.

In February 2021, I got State Farm to pay me its driver’s $25,000 BIL insurance policy limits. You can see the settlement check:

This was about 6 months after the car accident.

It gets better:

USAA insured Sandra’s personal car with $10,000 of uninsured motorist insurance coverage. At the time of this accident, Sandra was not driving her personal car. However, her underinsured motorist insurance (from her personal car) covered her for this accident.

In February 2021, I got USAA to pay me Sandra’s $10,000 limit of uninsured motorist coverage. Here is the check (redacted).

The total settlement was $35,000.

After my car accident lawyer fees and costs, Sandra gets a check for $23,333.33.

Normally, you have to pay back the workers’ compensation insurance company from your personal injury settlement. However, they must reduce their claim (lien) by your attorney’s fees and costs and other factors.

Here, Sandra’s workers’ compensation lawyer got the workers comp insurer to waive its entire lien. This means that after my car accident lawyer fees, Sandra got the entire settlement in her pocket.

Sandra was happy with our personal injury settlement.

Sandra also settled a workers’ compensation claim with her employer’s insurance company.

Costs Were Under $7 in a $20K Car Accident Settlement (2019)

Here is another example of a car accident case where my costs were under $7.00. In April 2019, Cesar was driving his minivan in Brickell, Florida.

Another car rear ended him. The impact sent Cesar’s minivan into a wall. Here is the actual diagram from the Florida traffic crash report:

After the accident, Cesar’s SUV was badly damaged.

This is what his vehicle looked like.

The airbags in the minivan deployed. Paramedics took Cesar to the hospital.

Here is a photo of him at the hospital:

Fortunately, he did not have any broken bones. He was only at the hospital for a few hours. He did not need surgery.

GEICO insured the driver of the car that hit Cesar. We got GEICO to quickly pay Cesar for the property damage to the minivan. We did not charge a fee on the property damage part of the claim because we did not have to sue.

Cesar had an MRI of his knee. Fortunately, he did not have any tendon or ligament damage. He had neck and back pain, which went away.

GEICO’s opening offer to settle his personal injury case was $14,655. In December 2019, GEICO paid us $20,000 to settle the case. Here is GEICO’s settlement check:

Thus, we settled his personal injury case settled in under nine months.

Approxiamtely 70% of the settlement was for his pain and suffering. My attorney’s fees were $6,666.67. My costs were only $7.00. After my attorneys fees and costs, and paying all of his medical bills, Cesar gets over $7,250 in his pocket.

This image shows this:

Cesar did not have health insurance. If Cesar would have had health insurance, he would have gotten more money in his pocket. In his case, this is because his health insurance would have paid the ambulance bill and the radiologist at the hospital.

The best part?

He is very happy with the result.

Check out a photo of Cesar and I after he got his settlement check:

Example of Attorney’s Fees (and Costs) on a $445K Motorcycle Accident Settlement

A young man was riding a motorcycle in Hialeah, Miami-Dade County, Florida. A tractor (truck) was heading in the opposite direction.

The truck made a left hand turn and hit the motorcycle rider.

Here is the actual crash diagram from the Florida traffic crash report:

While he was in Hialeah Hospital, the motorcycle rider searched for a Miami motorcycle accident lawyer. He found me on the internet and called me.

We spoke on the phone. He asked me to meet him at the hospital. I met him in his hospital room. There, he signed my attorney fee contract and I went to work fighting for his rights. (I have an e-signature fee contract but I think he wanted to meet me in person.)

The good news?

We settled his case for $445,000 without filing a lawsuit.  

Our fees were 33 1/3% of the total settlement, which was $148,333. We hired an accident reconstruction expert who required a retainer. This means that when I hired him, I paid him $2,500. In most cases, we do not hire an accident reconstruction expert. This is because most cases don’t settle for $445,000 (or close to that amount).

That $2,500 cost alone is much higher than our average cost for our 2019 personal injury settlements.  (You’ll hear more about that in a moment.)

In that case, we paid the hospital and medical providers to get copies of medical records and bills.

To show how much the client received, we use a formula. In this example, I’m going to keep it simple.  I have not listed several other costs that we were reimbursed after we were paid our attorney’s fee.

After we were paid for our attorney fees and costs from the total settlement, we paid several of the client’s medical bills.

Attorneys are often responsible for repaying medical providers from the client’s portion of the settlement.  To keep the math simple, I am using approximate costs and medical bills:

Settlement Amount	$445,000
Attorney fees	-$148,333
Accident Reconstruction Expert	-$2,500
Hospital Medical records charge:	-$53
Orthopedic doctor Medical records charge:	-$22
Hospital Bills:	-$13,500
Final Medical Bills (Approximately)	-$16,750

Client Received Over $236K In His Pocket After Attorney’s Fees and Costs

In the actual case, the client received approximately a little over $236,800. This is partly because there were additional costs that we advanced. There were also additional medical bills that we needed to pay after we took our fees and costs.

That’s money in his pocket.

We did not file a lawsuit in the above case. To better explain attorney’s fees, let’s pretend that I sued. If so, the formula would be similar. However, our fees would have increased to 40% of the total settlement instead of the 33 1/3%.

If we would have sued, costs would have also increased. This is because suing costs money. Moreover, there are other lawsuit related costs.

Will I get more money in my pocket if I hire a lawyer for my car accident?

No attorney can always guarantee that the answer will be Yes.

However, let’s look at a study done by the Insurance Research Council.

Here is a statistic:

The study found that people with an attorney in a car accident case got 3.5 times more for their injury case than those without a lawyer. This study suggests that you are better off getting a lawyer after a car accident.

If you are going to hire a car accident attorney (which I highly suggest), then do so quickly. There are time limits to sue. Moreover, an attorney can properly help you document your claim.

Do Bigger Cases Typically Have More Costs?

All things equal, yes. However, big settlements don’t always have more costs than smaller ones. Sometimes a larger settlement may actually have a lower cost than a much smaller settlement.

If the case is settled before a lawsuit there are some typical costs. Costs are different than attorney’s fees.

Costs include police reports, costs charged by hospital and medical providers for copies of medical records and copies of bills, criminal background checks, past claims history checks, photographs, certified mail. There may be additional costs as well.

On rare occasions, we charge for copies and regular mail postage.

Here’s a great tip:

Ask your attorney if he or she charges for copies made in their office.
Copy charges can quickly add up to a few hundred bucks! And you don’t want that.

In some cases, costs may include legal research costs, expert witness fees, fees for medical conferences and fees for a final medical report.

If you give us permission to file a lawsuit, then there are additional costs. They typically include the lawsuit filing fee, which is usually around $400. Other lawsuit costs may be for serving summonses and subpoenas, court reporters fees, including fees for medical testimony and all litigation-related expenses. There may be additional costs as well.

Let’s face it. Lawsuits aren’t cheap. But sometimes they are necessary.

We will make every effort to keep these costs at an absolute minimum, consistent with the requirements of the case.

You’ll like to hear this:

In order for us to pay anyone after a settlement, you must approve and sign a closing statement. And our closing statement lists every single cost.

Here’s a free tip:

Before hiring an injury lawyer, ask him or her if they’ll list every cost on the closing statement. If they won’t, ask them why not.

You have the right to know every single cost, line by line. Don’t let a lawyer just show one amount for all the costs.

However, our costs won’t come as a shock to you.

Why not?

Because, before we incur a big cost, we let our clients know about it. And we get your approval before we pay the cost.

Moreover, we do our best to try to let you know about every cost as we incur it. We do this by sending you an email that shows the invoice. Thus, there are no surprises.

That said, we typically don’t inform you about charges for certified mail until the closing statement.

How Some Government Employees Get a Huge Benefit By Having an Attorney

There are many benefits from hiring a personal injury lawyer.  Here, I want to focus on the benefit that a city, county or state employee in Florida gets by hiring a personal injury lawyer.

If your “health insurance” pays benefits, then they are entitled to be paid back from the personal injury settlement.  To keep it simple, we’ll call this a lien.

However, if you have an attorney, your health insurance company must reduce its lien by your pro-rata attorney’s fees and costs.  This can result in a big savings to the injured client.

Police officers, teachers, firefighters are just a few professions who get this benefit associated with hiring a lawyer.

This law also applies to individuals with a private (not through work) health insurance plan.

Unfortunately, this law doesn’t apply to people who have “health insurance” through a big employer like Walmart, Publix, Disney and many others who have a self-funded health plan with airtight reimbursement language.

If You Hire a Lawyer, Can You Do Anything to Keep the Costs Down (Lower)?

Possibly. If the injured person requests their medical records from the hospital or doctor, sometimes the charge is less than if the attorney requests them.

It’s best that the injured person requests that the hospital put the medical records on electronic media (USB, flash drive or CD).  If the patient requests that the medical provider give him/her the records on electronic media, the medical charges are often much lower.

This is because federal law limits the amount that medical providers can charge the patient for electronic records.

Do You Owe Us a Fee if We Recover Benefits from Medical Payments (“Medpay”) Coverage?

No, unless we have to sue in good faith to get the “Med pay” benefits.  Some auto insurance policies have medical payments coverage.  The same is true with liability insurance policies for businesses or homes.

The Florida Supreme Court said that an attorney could not take a fee on medpay.   Florida Bar v. Thomas, 698 So.2d 530 (Fla.1997).  In the Thomas case, Rottblatt was injured in slip and fall accident.  Her attorney got her a settlement of $16,000 in liability benefits plus $5,000 in “med pay.”  I wasn’t the lawyer in that case.

Her doctor was owed $3,100 of the $5,000 med pay amount.  Rottblatt’s attorney wrote a check to the doctor for $3,100.  The attorney kept the remainder of the $5,000 med pay ($1,900).

The court said that the $1,900 belonged to the client, and was in excess of the contingency fee allowed by the fee settlement agreement.   Thus, the attorney couldn’t take a fee on med pay.

However, if the insurer would’ve denied the med pay benefits, her attorney could’ve sued for med pay.  In that case, if he sued, he would’ve been able to take a fee on med pay.

If we settle your case and we receive our fees and costs, will you owe any medical bills?

Assuming that we are able to settle your personal injury case, we are entitled to receive our fee from the total settlement.

Our goal is for the remainder of the settlement (after our fees and costs) to pay for all of your out of pocket past medical bills, if any.  We also want there to be as much money as possible for you after all of your bills are paid.

In most cases that we’ve handled, our clients’ portion of the settlement was larger than our attorney’s fee.

That is good news for clients.

Additionally, we have never had a case where, after we received our fees and costs, and our client received money to pay for all the medical bills, our client was left with out of pocket bills.

Could it happen? Yes, anything is possible.

However, we are selective in the cases we take and do our best in trying to accept cases where we feel that our clients will be happy with the outcome.

Most personal injury settlements with insurance companies are based on historical settlements and verdicts.  This means that insurance companies often look at past cases to predict future settlements.

We have withdrawn (stopped representing a client) in a few personal injury cases where the medical bills were likely to eat up the entire settlement.

Can We Estimate The Future Necessary Costs if We’re Your Attorney?

We will periodically tell you how much money we’ve spent on your behalf.  We’ll usually send you emails with any cost invoices attached.

In the beginning of a claim, there are some estimated future necessary costs that we’re usually aware of. They are:

• The cost to get your medical records and itemized bills
• DUI records if a drunk driver caused your accident

We will only request documents that we believe have a good likelihood of increasing your case value.

You also have the right to decide, after consulting with us, how much money is to be spent to prepare your case.

Can We Give You a List of Itemized Costs from Our Actual Past Cases?

As far as costs for similar cases, every case is different.  We’ve had some cases where the costs were zero. This is because the medical records/itemized bills were free. Further, there were no other costs. 

We’ve had other cases, where our client had surgery, and there were hundreds or thousands of pages of medical records.  In some of those cases, we hired an accident reconstruction expert or life care planner.  In larger cases, the costs can add up quickly. 

That said, I try to only spend costs if I think that they are necessary to build your case and hopefully get a bigger settlement. Of course, there is no guarantee that we’ll get a settlement or win your case.

But I use my past 19 years of experience representing injured people and try to only take the cases that I think have a high chance of paying out.

Will You Get Less Money Than Us or Your Doctors?

We will do our best in an attempt to put as much money as possible in your pocket.  Our goal is for you to get more money in your pocket than we receive as attorney’s fees.  We want happy clients.

That said, there is a chance that we receive the same amount of attorney’s fees as you.  This is much more likely to happen if you don’t have health insurance.  It is also more likely to happen if there is limited bodily injury liability (BIL) insurance available.

Attorneys Can’t Charge Fees on Medpay Benefits Before a Lawsuit in a Slip and Fall Case

In another case, Pogue was injured in a laundromat, Wash King.  The Florida Bar v. Silver, 788 So.2d 958 (Fla.2001).  His attorney, Silver, received a check from Nationwide Insurance Company for general liability coverage (“medpay“) made payable to the client in the amount of $3,937.58.

The attorney took a fee on the med pay benefits.  The court said that the attorney wasn’t charged with a violation in connection with his a taking a full contingency fee on the medpay benefits.  This implies that charging a fee on med pay isn’t allowed.  I assume that the attorney didn’t sue to get Med pay benefits.

If Nationwide would’ve denied the med pay benefits, and her attorney would’ve sued for med pay, then the lawyer would’ve been able to take a fee on med pay.

Do We Need Your Permission to File a Lawsuit?

Yes.  Pursuant to Rules Regulating the Florida Bar Rule 4-1.2(a), a lawyer must have the client’s consent to either sue or settle a personal injury case.

The intent of filing a lawsuit is typically so that you will get more money in your pocket than you would get if you accept a current offer, if one exists.

Some possible risks of filing a lawsuit are that you may have to accept a lower offer, or get no offer at all.  This is true even if you already have a pending settlement offer.

An attorney cannot file a lawsuit on your behalf without your informed authorization.

If We Lose The Case, Will You Have to Pay Any Charges?

You would have to pay the defense costs if you choose to sue, and take the case to trial, and you lose at trial. 

Also, if the defendant makes an offer [of judgment] to you during a lawsuit, and you reject it, and your judgment after trial is least 25% less than that offer, then you’d owe the defendant it’s reasonable fees and costs.  

The good news?

We can buy insurance which protects you against these fees and costs if the defendant makes a successful offer of judgment against you.  Legal Fee Guard offers this insurance in Florida.

Of course, if we buy this insurance, and we settle your case, then we’re repaid for this cost. Like all other costs, we are reimbursed after we are paid our attorney’s fees.

On the bright side, we’ve never had a client owe defense fees or costs.

Learn if the defendant can countersue you in a slip, trip and fall, or other accident on someone’s property.

Can a Florida attorney charge you an additional fee for hiring a company to lower your health insurance liens?

No but you need to read all of the following:

In Florida, your personal injury lawyer cannot charge you an additional fee if they hire a separate company (or lawyer) to reduce your health insurance or other liens. In Re Am. to Rule Regulating the Fla. Bar. 02 So. 3d 37 (2016) See also Florida Bar Staff Opinion 43725

Even if the third-party lien resolution expert or specialist lawyer proposes a a “reverse contingency fee”, it should not be billed to the client. This is because such cost would amount to an excessive cost as contemplated by Rule 4-1.5 and the opinions noted in Staff Opinion 43725.

However, the court did say that if the circumstances of a particular case are such that the fee generated under the contingency fee agreement is expected to be insufficient for the work of resolving any outstanding lien, the attorney and client can ask for court approval pursuant to rule 4–1.5(f)(4)(B)(ii) of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar to obtain an increased fee appropriate for the circumstances of the specific case. In Re Am. to Rule Regulating the Fla. Bar. 02 So. 3d 37 (2016). But the lien resolution expert must be a lawyer.

Example of General Rule that Attorney Can’t Charge You for Hiring Lien Negotiation Specialists

Here is an example from one of my car accident cases.

Shankeva was a passenger in a car near Daytona, Florida. An underinsured driver crashed into the car that Shankeva was in.

You can see the damage to the cars:

As a result, Shankeva broke the socket of her hip bone.

You can see her in the hospital:

The PIP coverage from Shankeva’s mom’s car insurance paid $10,000 of her medical bills. In addition, her Molina Medicaid paid $1,849.32 of her medical bills.

Since there was limited available insurance, we settled her case for $33,000.

As you can see, State Farm paid its $25,000 uninsured motorist insurance limits.

In addition, the at fault driver’s insurance company paid $8,000 of its $10,000 bodily injury coverage limit.

The other $2,000 went to another the driver of Shankeva’s car. He had a head and spine injury.

Here is the at fault driver’s insurance company check:

Since Molina Medicaid paid some of Shankeva’s medical bills, they were entitled to get paid back from the settlement.

I Got Molina Medicaid to Reduce Their Lien

The good news?

I got Molina Medicaid to accept $1,085.32 as full payment of their $1,849.32 lien.

This put an additional $764 in Shankeva’s pocket!

Now:

Some attorneys would have just paid Molina Medicaid the full $1,849.32.

Why?

Because Molina said that they did not have to reduce the lien one penny. And they sent me law that seemed pretty convincing. They cited federal and state statutes.

(However, thanks to Synergy Settlements, I learned that Molina had to reduce by attorney’s fees and costs. But that’s a subject for another day.)

Here, some attorneys would have hired a lien reduction specialist to reduce the lien. Those outside specialists then charge the client a percentage of the lien savings.

For example, the lien specialist would have probably charged around 33 1/3% of the $764 savings. In other words, the attorney would have billed the client an extra $255.

Here is the problem:

In a Florida personal injury case, your attorney needs court approval to charge you for this. I don’t know what other state laws say.

In my case, I did not have court approval to charge my client for the costs of an lien reduction specialist.

Nor did I ask for court approval. Thus, I did not hire a lien reduction specialist. And of course, I did not charge my client extra fees for this.

I got the lien reduced with my hard work. This took back and forth letters to Equian (the company that Molina used to recoup its money). And I didn’t charge my client a penny for it.

If I would have gotten court approval to bill the client for the cost of a lien reduction specialist, I could have charged the client for their cost.

What should you do if your attorney’s fee contract says that they can charge you for hiring a company to reduce your liens?

Just insert the words “subject to court approval.” Then, you will have an ethical fee contract.

And you won’t get overcharge by your lawyer. It is best to address this before you sign a fee contract. This is because you can show your lawyer that you know your stuff.

What is you’ve signed a fee contract that lets the attorney charge you to hire an outside company to reduce your liens. Just ask the attorney to add the words “subject to court approval” in the fee contract.

Do We Charge for Paralegal Fees?

No. In a contingent fee case, it is improper to charge separately for work that is usually otherwise accomplished by a client’s own attorney and incorporated into the standard fee paid to the attorney.

This is true even if that cost is paid to a third party provider. Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 07-2.

Therefore, we do not charge for paralegal fees.

That said, the court may award us attorney fees if we win at trial and beat the defendant’s offer (proposal for settlement). If the court does so, it can also award us paralegal fees.

But that only happens if we sue. And again, we need your consent to sue.

Do We Charge a Fee for Consulting with An Appellate Attorney?

No. Not unless any appellate proceeding is filed or post judgment relief or action is required for recovery on the judgment.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that I am representing you in a car accident claim with GEICO. Or perhaps we are trying to get a Lyft accident settlement.

During the course of the claim, I decide that I want to consult with an attorney who specializes in appeals. However, we are not filing an appeal. In this instance, I cannot charge you for the appellate attorney’s cost.

Please do not let a personal injury attorney try to charge you for this excessive cost.

Do We Charge for Phone Calls (Whether Local or Long Distance)?

No. We don’t charge for long distance phone calls unless you live in a remote country and we are unable to use Skype, What’s App, Google Hangout, or Facebook to speak via a similar service.

As an example, assume that you have an Uber accident claim. You hire me as your Uber accident lawyer. In Florida, Progressive insures Uber for car accidents. For the past 14 years, I’ve handled Progressive car accident claims. During that time, Progressive has used claims adjusters throughout the entire United States. (The same is true with Lyft’s claims handler, Travelers Insurance Company.)

You’ll be happy to hear:

If we make long distance calls to Progressive (or anyone else), we do not charge costs for these calls.

Why not?

First, I do not like being so petty. Second, I know other accident attorneys who do not charge for long distance calls. Thus, I do not either. On the other hand, I also know that many attorneys charge the cost of making long distance phone calls.

The fact that we do not charge for long distance phone calls is one of the many things that separates me from many other attorneys.

Also, we don’t charge for local phone calls.

Do We Charge You a Fee or Cost to Prepare the Closing Statement If We Get a Settlement?

No. An attorney cannot charge a fee or cost for preparing a closing statement in a Florida personal injury or wrongful death case.

Do We Charge You a Fee or Cost for Storing or Disposing Your File at the End of the Case?

No. We don’t nickel and dime our clients.

How do you know which attorney costs are excessive in an injury case?

In my opinion, the best way to see if a Florida personal injury lawyer is charging you an excessive fee is to look at this Authority to Represent and Contingency Fee Agreement. That contract is on The Practice Resource Center of The Florida Bar.

Now:

That fee agreement is not the “standard” personal injury contract. But that is only because there is no “standard” fee contract. However, if there was a standard fee contract, that is likely what it would look like.

You can breathe a sigh of relief:

My fee contract is very similar to that fee contract. I do have an additional sentence that says that my representation for the personal injury or wrongful death case does not include other claims like probate, workers’ compensation and guardianship. I added that sentence to make it clear that I am only handling the personal injury case.

Hiring a probate lawyer is only necessary if your family member was killed in the accident. Also, in a child injury case, a minor guardianship may need to get set up if the settlement is above a certain amount.

Can an Attorney Pay for You Taking an Uber, Lyft or Taxi to Your Medical Appointments?

No. In Florida, attorneys are not ethically allowed to pay for your transportation to your medical appointments with your treating physicians. Rules Regulating the Florida 4-1.8(e). See also Attorney Griev. of Comm’n Maryland v. Kandel, 563 A. 2d 387 – Md: Court of Appeals 1989.

Why not?

Because it is considered financial assistance. Basically, an attorney can’t give you money as an advance.

That said, some doctors’ offices will arrange to have you picked up at your home, and dropped off after the medical treatment. I know some medical groups in Florida that do this. One of the advantages of hiring a lawyer is that they can tell you which doctors are good and fair to accident victims. Rest assured, I can.

Remember:

Treating with excellent doctors is an important part of your personal injury case. Ultimately, the doctor will say whether or not the accident caused or worsened your injury.

You usually want your doctor to say that the accident caused or worsened your injury. Of course, this assumes that it really did.

The Easy and Secure Ways You Can Receive Your Settlement Funds From Us

We work hard to make everything easy for you, from start to finish, especially when it’s time to get your settlement money.

When your money is ready, you can choose how you want to receive it: fast through a wire transfer, safely mailed by UPS, or personally delivered (if you’re local) by attorney Justin Ziegler.

We do all of this for you without any extra cost. We do these things because we care about making things smooth and easy for you. Your happiness and peace of mind are really important to us at JZ Helps (a Florida injury law firm).

Find out for FREE if I can Represent You (Florida cases only)

If you were seriously injured in Florida or on a cruise, complete this short form to find out for FREE if I can represent you. That’s the fastest way for me to tell you if I can represent you.

If you prefer, you can call us at 888-594-3577 to see if I can represent you if someone caused your injury in Florida, or on a cruise. You can call me any day of the year.

There are no fees or costs if I don’t get you money.

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