Most personal injury attorneys charge you a contingency fee. A contingency fee is like a commission on a personal injury claim or car accident settlement. Whereas most attorneys charge on a per hour basis, a lawyer that charges on contingency will only get paid when you get paid, and their fee is calculated as a percentage (usually 25%-40%) of the total settlement amount.
This compensation system allows the injured person to hire an experienced personal injury attorney without having to pay for upfront legal costs. In most cases, hiring a personal injury attorney on a contingency fee basis means if you don’t collect any money as part of your personal injury lawsuit case, you don’t owe the attorney any money for their work on the case. This also ensures that your interests are intrinsicly aligned with your lawyers’ interests. They don’t get paid if you don’t, meaning they lose all the time put into working on your claim. It also means that they get paid more when you get a bigger settlement check, so they have incentive to do their best.