How Much Will an Attorney Cost?
Are you considering hiring an attorney but don’t know how much one will cost? There are more than 40 million lawsuits filed in the United States each year. Most of these are filed by licensed attorneys on behalf of their clients.
Whether you’ve hired an attorney once or are new to the legal process, you may not be familiar with how they bill you. Read on to learn about attorney costs and how they will bill you for their services!
Billing Practices
The lawyer fees you pay can have a major impact on the way you want your case handled. For example, if you’re in a lawsuit where attorney’s fees aren’t in play for either party, you may be on the hook for paying all your fees and court costs throughout your lawsuit.
Before you sign a retainer agreement with an attorney to have them represent you in your case, you need to have a clear understanding of their billing practices and how they will charge you for their services. While some types of lawyers charge an hourly rate for their work on your case, others may charge you based on a contingency fee arrangement.
With contingency fee billing, you are only responsible for paying your attorney if they recover a settlement on your behalf. The good news is that there is typically a cap for the percentage that your attorney can charge you under a contingency. For example, in Florida, this ranges from 33 1/3% to 40% of what you recover.
Flat Fee Arrangements
Sometimes you will be pay a lawyer consultation fee for the first meeting with your attorney. Then the lawyer will charge you a flat fee for their services moving forward. In a flat fee arrangement with attorneys like a Sweet Law disability lawyer, you pay a one-time fee for hiring an attorney.
These costs can vary depending on the level of representation you need. For simpler matters like reviewing a contract, your attorney may bill you a flat fee of two or three hours. For harder cases that may last a while, your attorney will charge more. That’s because of the time they expectcipate to spend on your file.
Sometimes a flat fee is your best bet because it gives you a precise amount you can expect to pay for your case.
Wrapping Up: Understanding Attorney Cost Before Hiring One
The best lawyer for your case will be the one that is willing to explain attorney costs and how they will bill you for their services. It’s important to remember that besides how an attorney will represent you in court, you need one who will treat you fairly as a paying customer.
If the prospective attorney you meet with isn’t willing to spend time with you explaining their billing practice, it’s probably a good idea to look elsewhere for an attorney that will! Are you looking for other great blog posts to learn about how the law can impact your life? Check out our blog section for other great posts to keep you updated on the latest news in the legal profession and beyond!
Ben Stern wrote this article on behalf of FreeUp. FreeUp is the fastest-growing freelance marketplace in the US. FreeUp only accepts the top 1% of freelance applicants. Click here to get access to the top freelancers in the world.
HTV Native Ad Solutions and Hearst partners may earn revenue when readers click affiliate links in this article.