Most lawyers charge clients an hourly fee. Lawyers generally don't come cheap and as with any other occupation, more experience means a higher the fee. Many people have trouble finding an attorney with adequate experience that charges an affordable fee.
Under certain circumstances, an attorney may offer representation to a client on a contingency or "success" fee basis. Under a contingency fee arrangement, the attorney agrees to offer their services on the basis that should they win the case, they receive a percentage of the final settlement. Contingency billing opens legal representation up to people that may not have been able to afford it under normal "hourly billing" circumstances. This present's obvious risks for the attorney because if they lose, all the time spent working on that particular case, will be wasted resources. If the lawsuit involves a large settlement it becomes worth their while.
There is a limit to the amount that an attorney can take from a client and an act was drawn up in 1999 to enforce this. According to the act lawyers are allowed no more than 25% of a client's final settlement. Lawyers only tend to offer this billing option in lawsuits where they feel that they have a strong case and when the settlement is substantial enough to warrant it.
The client is also obligated to pay the attorney the agreed amount, regardless of how long it took to resolve the issue. If the issue is resolved in a short space of time, then the client may end up paying more than they would have if they had opted for hourly billing.
Payment on a contingency fee basis also guarantees, to a certain extent that the lawyer working on a particular case gives the client their undivided attention, in an effort to sort out the matter as fast as possible, whereas if the matter was approached with hourly billing in mind, it might not be approached with the same level of urgency.
As a client you also need to try and look at things from the attorney's point of view. Bear in mind all the costs that could include travelling expenses and the cost of attaining records. It's important to remember that if am attorney agrees to represent you under these conditions they are taking a risk by agreeing to represent you, when there's a chance that they may not receive payment.
Make sure that you finalize the contract in writing, so that if any issues arise at a later stage, you've got all your bases covered. It's always a good idea to run through your contract with your attorney, this way you can ask them to explain anything you're unsure of.
Many lawyers outsource their billing functions to third party companies that specialize in legal billing solutions.
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