Truck accident lawsuit cost Personal injury lawyers for truck accidents, like other accidents, are almost universally paid on a contingency fee. “Contingency fee” arrangement means that the client does not receive any bills for their attorney’s fees and the attorney does not charge an hourly rate. Instead, the attorney and client agree that the attorney […]
Truck accident lawsuit cost
Personal injury lawyers for truck accidents, like other accidents, are almost universally paid on a contingency fee.
“Contingency fee” arrangement means that the client does not receive any bills for their attorney’s fees and the attorney does not charge an hourly rate. Instead, the attorney and client agree that the attorney will be paid a portion of the monetary damages that the attorney is able to recover for the client.
Very often the contingency fee is regulated by state law. In addition to the fee the attorney is allowed to recover their expenses that they laid out for your lawsuit.
In some truck accident cases I’ve spent over a million dollars in investigating accidents, having to hire excellent reconstruction people.
In one accident we ended up suing the state of New York because the road was at a 180 degree angle. It was like a half a circle and our client was coming up the road this way and the defendant was coming up the road the other way.
The offender was in a tractor-trailer so they were much higher and they made a left turn into the side of our defendant’s vehicle. We didn’t know if the insurance was enough to cover our clients injuries because our client was very badly injured and we ended up bringing the state of New York into that case because, under the circumstances of having a road shaped like that at an intersection, we claimed that they needed to put up signs that said limited site distance so the truck knew he needed to slow down.
They didn’t have those signs, they didn’t have those warnings and it ended up that the state of New York was found to be at least partially responsible for that accident and helped us get a very good settlement for our clients during trial.
So the question is, what are the costs to bring in accident reconstructionists? These people are going to reconstruct the road in court so the jury can see it on maybe a 10 or 15 foot model showing the whole road and also the side like a slice of cake.
What is the cost involved in bringing in the doctors and the surgeons and the rehab people and the people who are going to testify as to the future life of the client and what they’re going to have to go through because of the accident?
They always cost a lot of money but if the case is worth it, if it’s sustainable, then you want to bring those tools into the lawsuit because that’s going to drive settlements, that’s what’s going to drive verdicts.
I know in our law firm and I’m sure it’s pretty much in most law firms that you’re not going to invest that kind of money unless the case warrants it. We don’t want to have money on the street, that’s at risk, so you need to have a law firm that has that kind of financial backing that is not afraid to go out and hire experts, reconstructionists, people who make models of roadways or models of cranes or models of whatever the instrumentality is.
These things cost a lot of money, they take a lot of thought and ingenuity and you need a lawyer who has all those tools in their toolbox.
Video: How much will a truck accident lawsuit cost me?
A truck accident lawsuit from the date of the accident until conclusion is going to vary. It’s going to vary for a lot of reasons.
First of all, it might vary because of the jurisdiction. If you’re involved in a jurisdiction in an area where the courts are very busy, it might take more time. If you’re in what they call a ‘rocket docket’ jurisdiction it might take a lot less time.
We’ve resolved cases in six months, nine months, a year and sometimes a lot longer.
It really depends upon the complexity and where you are. It depends on if you’re in state court or you’re in federal court. Federal court will tend to move a lot faster and especially with truck accidents.
If you can bring it to federal court you’re going to get a resolution probably within a year and a half plus or minus on average.
Personal injury lawyers for truck accidents, like other accidents, are almost universally paid on a contingency fee, a percentage of the total recovery.
Thus, in a possible contingency fee arrangement where the attorney and client agree that the attorney should receive 30 percent of the complete recovery, the attorney’s fee would be $30,000 if the attorney was able to recover $100,000 in compensation for the client.
It depends upon the complexity of a truck accident lawsuit and where you are. It depends on if you’re in state court or you’re in federal court. Federal court will tend to move a lot faster and especially with truck accidents.
If you can bring it to federal court you’re going to get a resolution probably within a year and a half plus or minus on average.
If you are involved in a truck accident, contact Parker Waichman immediately calling 1-800-YOUR-LAWYER (1-800-968-7529) for a free case review today.
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