Contingency Fees In A Personal Injury Case

In Maryland

In Maryland, contingency fee agreements must be in writing and signed by the client. The agreement should specifically spell out the percentage of the contingency, which expenses will be deducted from the recovery, and whether the expenses will be deducted before or after the contingent fee is calculated.

Advantages

Contingency fee arrangements provide several advantages to clients. The arrangement provides an incentive for a lawyer only to take on cases that have a reasonable chance of success. If it were an hourly rate, a lawyer might take a case regardless of its merit and collect fees throughout the process. When a case is taken on a contingency basis, the lawyer’s and the client’s interests are closely aligned. Your lawyer has a huge incentive to win your case because if he or she doesn’t, there is no payment for the many hours spent working on the case. As a result, a lawyer will work hard for his or her client to resolve the case quickly and for the most money. A contingency fee arrangement gives the average injured person a fighting chance against large corporations and insurance companies.