I had a question the other day, that people wanted to see my contingency fee agreement. To give you a bit of background. Most car accident lawyers handle these cases on a contingency fee basis. Most of them charge 1/3 if the case settles out of court, meaning if resolving as a claim. 90+ per cent of all car accident cases actually resolve as a claim. The other 10% that we have to file, in court that goes to litigation. We then charge 40% and all of those numbers are from the gross fee. If we recover a $100.000 for personal injuries for a client, we would get to keep $33.333 and the $67k+ would go to the client. What I wanted to show you is our fee agreement because that is what the client wanted to see.
This is what our client agreement looks like #
The first line is gonna be about the client. Example: Jane Doe Car Accident. And the second line is going to be who the attorney is? It would be me. The third line is going to be the date of loss. What’s today’s date: 11/19/2020. And that that’s all we need up there. The next statement in the fee agreement is a contingency fee agreement. Basically, the client retains Bajric&Ramic law office as legal counsel in the above-referenced matter, and matters rising their front. Contingency basis, says that legal get the 1/3 if it resolves compromise or settlement before a suit is filed. And 40% of any amount recovered after the suit is filed, or after our mediation is requested.
Expenses related to the accident #
We will pay for all the expenses related to the accident, related to the claim or the lawsuit and that amount is going to be recovered or deducted from the settlement amount. It is agreed and understood that this employment and representation is upon a contingent fee basis. And if no recovery is made I will not be able to indebt to said the attorney. If you don’t make a recovery for the client we will not get paid. We will never charge client out of pocket for anything when it to this stuff. Also, it is also understood that the attorneys will not settle any claim without first consulting the client, which means that once I get to top offer or any offer from the insurance the company I will sit down with the client I will have a settlement statement prepared.
Premission #
We get permission from the client here in the agreement so that we can sign the settlement draft on their behalf. Once we settle the case, we will get a check from the insurance company that’s written to the firm as well as to the client. We don’t want the client to just come to the office to sign the check. We get permission from the client initially to sign that check. Appeals, if we go to trials, the chances of this happening are slim, but if we go to trial, we win or lose, and there is an appeal going to happen, a separate agreement will be entered into.
Advise the client #
The last thing that we have to advise the client is that if you are gonna keep the file for additional 5 years. We have to keep clients file for a period of time. Much easier these days because of electronic data storage. So they will keep it for 5 years. Usually, it’s much longer than that because of the electronic application of saving data. That’s basically what the contract is. We dated the client sign it, we sign it, that’s it.
If you have any other questions when it comes to the fee agreement please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at 314-352-6800. Thank you very much and you have a wonderful day.
Bajric & Ramic Law Office
Nedim Ramic – Auto Accident Lawyer – Personal Injury Attorney
