After a devastating truck accident, the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer may be the least of your concerns. You likely have mounting medical expenses and a boss who may be frustrated you are in too much pain to work. Meanwhile, you are suffering from the many injuries that typically ail victims of truck accidents. The truck accident lawyers at Gelb & Gelb, P.C. are highly skilled at navigating the complex insurance and legal processes you will face. Truck accidents, in particular, face severe regulations that do not apply in the typical car accident case. Our personal injury attorneys can leverage these regulations to prove per se negligence by a tortfeasor who injured you.
While victims of truck accidents may worry that they cannot afford legal representation to recover compensation, our fee structure allows anyone to afford a personal injury attorney. While others may believe they can negotiate a settlement on their own, while they may be able to get something, it is likely to be far less than what a skilled injury attorney will recover. When a layperson negotiates with an insurance carrier without representation, they lack leverage. While they have the right to make a claim, even attorneys have to evaluate the claim’s value and negotiate with the insurance provider to come to a reasonable agreement. However, negotiating works as an attorney because of the threat of litigation. This is not something the typical accident victim has.
Even if you threaten litigation, the complex nature of the civil procedure in the District, coupled with tort laws and federal regulations applicable to truckers, makes first-time litigation problematic.
The general rule is the more you pay, the better your attorney should be. That premise serves consumers reasonably well in any field of service. However, that is not the case with a personal injury attorney. Instead, your job as a victim in an accident is to find the best possible attorney, regardless of the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer. That is because nearly all truck accident attorneys use a contingency fee structure. This means we only charge a fee if we win. This also means you can afford an attorney regardless of your financial situation. This is the best possible scenario for accident victims.
Imagine if you already could not afford to pay bills or support your family, and a negligent truck driver smashes your car, causing you immense pain, suffering, and damage to your vehicle. In this scenario, you would be entitled to compensation. However, you may not be able to afford a retainer fee or an hourly rate. The last thing you would want to do is invest in all those legal fees and run the risk of winning nothing if your attorney loses your case. That would put you in an impossible situation due to no fault of your own. Fortunately, the legal system does not operate this way. Below, we explain the common fee arrangements affecting the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer.
Their fee arrangement dictates the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer. By far, the most common fee arrangement is a contingency fee arrangement. Gelb & Gelb, P.C. uses that fee structure for our truck accident cases, which is the same structure you will find at most other personal injury firms in the area.
A contingency fee structure dictates the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer. Our fee is contingent on whether we win your case. If we win your case by settlement before filing suit, our fee is one-third of the gross recovery. If we file a suit in your case, our fee will increase to 40%. But we only charge a fee if we win your case. This is precisely how almost all contingency fee structures are set up for truck accident cases. In part, it incentivizes the attorney to take the risk that he may get nothing for months of work. On the other hand, it compensates the plaintiff for his total medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
This is not a standard fee structure for truck accident cases in DC. We do not know of any personal injury attorneys who use this fee structure. For the typical case, the attorney will likely recover more than one-third of the gross recovery. It also puts the client in a lousy situation if they are unsuccessful in their suit. While it makes sense for a criminal defense attorney, for example, to use this fee structure, it is not for a personal injury attorney. Of course, a criminal defense attorney cannot charge a part of the recovery because there is no recovery. Thus, there is no alternative besides hourly rates. However, unlike the contingency fee structure, this structure excludes clients who cannot afford an attorney.
Accordingly, the government subsidizes legal representation, known as the public defender.
A retainer fee is part of the hourly rate fee structure. The cost of a DC truck accident lawyer does not include a retainer fee. As stated above, we only charge a fee if we win. We do not charge a fee for a consultation or once we begin work on your case. While we have a client sign a retainer, the retainer does not require advance payment. Nonetheless, there is still legal consideration for the contract.
Additionally, the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer includes the costs you would have to pay if you handled your case pro se. For example, below is a list of additional expenses in truck accident cases that are the client’s responsibility. The attorneys at Gelb & Gelb, P.C. will advance these costs on the client’s behalf, staying true to our “no fee unless we win” motto. However, these costs are ultimately reimbursed if there is a recovery.
Fortunately, this is relatively very simple. As stated above, we do not charge a legal fee unless we win. And if we win, then your legal fee is covered by the recovery for your injuries. Thus, there is no conceivable way in which you would have to reach into your pocket to pay the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer at Gelb & Gelb. This is contrary to many other fields of practice. We are proud to be able to provide such affordable legal representation at the level we do. We have provided such skilled legal representation to the Washington, D.C., community since 1954. With 70 years of experience and over 10,000 accident cases handled, we are among the region’s top personal injury law firms.
To be able to provide such excellent service at such a manageable legal cost has been our pleasure.
The long-term financial considerations of winning a judgment or settlement with the assistance of a DC truck accident attorney cannot be understated. The value of hiring a truck accident lawyer is in the experience, responsiveness, and aggressive pursuit you receive from a top-level injury attorney.
If you have been in a truck accident in Washington, D.C., or want to learn more about the cost of a DC truck accident lawyer, call our office today. We offer free consultations at (202) 331-7227.
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