The Cost of Taking Your Personal Injury Case to Court
Many people who have been injured in a car accident, a fall on someone else’s property, or some other unexpected event hesitate to contact. a San Antonio personal injury attorney. When you’ve been hurt, are recovering from the trauma, have a growing pile of medical bills and may be unable to work for weeks or months, it’s understandable to be concerned about costs. But, that’s also the worst possible time to cut yourself off from the legal assistance that could help you secure fair compensation from the person or business responsible for your injury.
Contingency Fees in San Antonio Personal Injury Cases
At George Salinas Injury Lawyers, we handle personal injury cases like slip and fall cases, car accident cases, truck accident cases and others on a contingency fee basis. That means there are only two situations when you’ll pay attorney’s fees on a personal injury case we handle:
- We negotiate a settlement with the responsible party and/or their insurance company, or
- We take your case to trial and win a verdict for you
The fees are based on a percentage of the compensation we recover for you, so you’re never paying fees to our firm out of pocket.
In Texas, attorneys working on a contingency fee basis must spell out exactly how the arrangement works in a written contract. So, the injury victim or surviving family member will always know exactly what to expect.
What about Other Costs of Going to Court?
Of course, attorney’s fees aren’t the only costs associated with personal injury litigation. The costs fall generally into two categories:
- Direct costs of litigation, which are typically relatively small–for example, the filing fee with the court. In Bexar County, this filing fee is currently $350.
- Costs of building and presenting a case, which will depend on the type of case and the nature of the damages. Some examples may include the cost of an investigator to gather evidence, a medical expert to establish the seriousness of the injury, and/or an economic expert to calculate and present evidence regarding lost earning capacity and other damages.
Some of those items sound expensive, and in some cases they can be. But, working with the right personal injury attorney makes those costs manageable. Lack of funds on hand needn’t ever be a barrier to pursuing compensation in a San Antonio injury case.
While many people question whether they can afford an attorney for their personal injury claim, the truth is that many people can’t afford to effectively pursue a personal injury claim without an attorney. That’s because when you pursue a claim on your own, you’ll have to identify and pay your own investigators and experts out of pocket. If you can’t do that, your claim may be weakened because you aren’t able to obtain the evidence and testimony you need to fully support your claim.
When you hire our firm to represent you after a car accident or other injury, costs are handled much in the same way as attorney’s fees. We absorb the costs of litigation, including the costs of investigation and retaining experts, as the case progresses. The contract will spell out exactly which expenses you’ll be responsible for if we settle or win your case, and those payments will be made from the settlement or award.
Another benefit of working with an experienced San Antonio personal injury lawyer is that a local lawyer who has handled many similar claims will have a good idea of the strength or weakness of your case and the approximate amount of damages that may be available. While no attorney can guarantee you a specific or minimum settlement or verdict, a seasoned personal injury lawyer will be in the best position to assess how much it’s reasonable to invest in pursuing the claim.
Make a Free Consultation Your Next Step
The first step toward making good decisions about your personal injury claim is gathering reliable information. That information includes things like:
- The strengths and weaknesses of your claim
- What types of damages may be available in your case
- What will be required to prove the claim
- How attorney fees and costs of litigation will be handled
The best way to get that information is to schedule a free consultation with an experienced San Antonio personal injury attorney. The attorneys at the Law Office of George Salinas have extensive experience with car accident cases, truck accident cases, premises liability cases, and other injury cases. Our entire practice has been built around helping people who have been injured through someone else’s negligence, while on the job, or by a defective product.
To learn more about your rights and options, including our fee structure and how we handle costs of litigation, contact us right now. Call 210-934-8091, fill out the contact form on this site, or click in the right-hand sidebar to chat.
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