The scale
One percentage at each stage
The percentage for each stage is written into your agreement before any work begins.
Before a lawsuit
Where most claims settleThe records gathered, the claim built and presented, and the insurer pressed to improve its first offer. Most claims end here.
- Written fee agreement before any work
- Medical bills and liens reviewed
- Case costs advanced by the firm
- Hourly billing or a retainer
- Term:
- A percentage of the recovery
After a lawsuit is filed
When an offer is not fair, the case goes to court. Depositions, expert reports and a mediation date add hours and expense.
- Everything in the first stage
- Depositions and expert reports
- Mediation, with you beside us
- A separate charge for drafting the suit
- Term:
- A percentage of the recovery
At trial
A case put before a judge or jury takes the most preparation and the most expense. This is the top of the scale.
- Everything in the second stage
- Antoinette tries the case herself
- Motions after the verdict
- An hourly bill for a later appeal
- Term:
- A percentage of the recovery
If there is no recovery, you owe no fee. Case costs, such as filing fees, medical records and expert witnesses, are advanced by the firm and repaid from the recovery; your written agreement says whether you would owe them if there is none.
How the fee is set
What sets the fee
The stage the claim is at when it resolves: before a lawsuit, after one is filed, or at trial. Each stage takes more work and more expense, so the percentage rises with it.
Before a lawsuit
After a lawsuit is filed
At trial
When you see the fee
Before any work begins. The percentage for every stage is in your written agreement, and Antoinette goes through it with you line by line.
How and when you pay
You pay nothing up front: no retainer and no hourly bill. The fee comes out of the settlement or judgment, and if there is no recovery you owe no fee. Case costs are advanced by the firm and repaid from the recovery; your agreement says whether you would owe them if there is none.
If the claim moves to the next stage
If a fair offer does not come and the case goes to court, we explain what a lawsuit involves and which percentage then applies before you decide whether to go on.
What the fee leaves unsaid
Do I pay anything to sign?
No. There is no retainer and no hourly bill. The agreement states the percentage for each stage and what case costs are.
Does the percentage apply before or after costs are repaid?
Your agreement says which, and Antoinette points to the line when she goes through it with you. Ask for the example in writing.
What if I change my mind and hire someone else?
You may. What the firm would be owed for work done so far is also in the agreement, so there is no surprise.
See what your claim would cost.
Describe it on a call and you will hear which stage you are at and what it means for the fee.