Personal Injury Lawyers: directory of firms

A contingency agreement sets a percentage, and it should say clearly whether the percentage is calculated before or after case costs are deducted, because that single word changes what reaches you. It should also say what happens to costs if the case is lost.

Some states cap the percentage in particular kinds of cases. California limits contingency fees in medical malpractice claims by statute: twenty-five percent of the amount recovered where the case settles before a civil complaint or arbitration demand is filed, and thirty-three percent where recovery comes after filing, with a lawyer able to petition the court for more on a showing of good cause. Other states use sliding scales or require judicial approval for minors.

Case costs are not fees. Medical records, expert reports, depositions, filing fees and accident reconstruction are advanced by the firm and repaid from the recovery, and on a modest claim they can be a large share of it.

Every state fixes its own limitation period. New York's civil practice law requires an action to recover damages for a personal injury to be commenced within three years, with exceptions carved out for particular categories such as medical malpractice. Other states are shorter. The period generally runs from the injury, not from the day you decide to do something about it.

Claims against a city, county, state agency or transit authority are worse, because most states require a formal written notice of claim within a matter of months, long before the general limitation period expires. Missing that notice usually ends the case outright. If a government vehicle, a public hospital or a municipal property is involved, that is a reason to see a lawyer in days, not months.

States divide on what happens when the injured person is partly to blame. Most reduce the award in proportion to that share; some bar recovery entirely once the injured person's share passes a threshold; and a small number still follow the older rule that any fault at all defeats the claim. Which rule applies is the single biggest variable in a disputed liability case.

Auto claims add another layer. A number of states run no-fault systems where your own policy pays medical expenses and lost earnings first, and a claim against the other driver is only allowed once a statutory threshold of injury or expense is met. In the remaining states you claim against the at-fault driver's liability insurer directly. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is often the most valuable policy in the file, so it belongs on the table at the first meeting.

A settlement figure is not what you receive. Health insurers, government health programs, workers' compensation carriers and medical providers who treated on a lien all have claims against the recovery, and several of them have rights created by federal statute that a private agreement cannot waive.

Resolving those claims is part of the legal work and is often where a good firm earns its fee, because reducing a lien puts money in your pocket exactly as surely as a higher settlement does. Ask early for a written breakdown of the expected deductions, and ask whether the firm negotiates liens as part of the agreed percentage or charges separately for it.