If you’ve been injured and you’re considering hiring an attorney, one of your first questions is probably about cost. Personal injury lawyers work on contingency, meaning they only get paid if you win your case. But the percentage they charge can vary significantly – and that percentage affects how much money ends up in your pocket.
Attorney Brian Dettman breaks down the range in this video. Some firms charge as low as 25%, while others charge as high as 45%. His firm falls in the middle at 33-35% for cases resolved without a lawsuit, and 40% if litigation is required.
According to Dettman, very low fees might indicate a firm that’s trying to move cases quickly rather than fighting for maximum value. Very high fees – especially on straightforward cases like car accidents or slip and falls – may mean you’re paying for that firm’s advertising budget rather than legal expertise.
The key point for injury victims: not all representation is equal. When evaluating attorneys, it’s worth asking about their fee structure, their trial experience, and how they approach cases. Dettman notes that any lawyer who claims they never lose is probably cherry-picking easy cases rather than fighting hard for clients.
If you’ve been hurt, you deserve an attorney who will advocate aggressively on your behalf. Understanding how fees work helps you make an informed choice about who represents you.
Don’t Get Burned: What Personal Injury Lawyers Should Actually Charge
Make sure your lawyer isn’t burning you! Here are my opinions on lawyer fees. We are a necessary evil and I get that nobody wants to pay. But you are WAY better off with a lawyer than without. The key is to make sure your lawyer is charging you a rate that helps you. We all work on contingency meaning a percent of the recovery. Some at 25% others at 45% and firms like mine in the middle at 33.3-35% to 40% for litigation. Any lawyer that tells you he or she doesn’t lose cases is a bad lawyer imho. You gotta swing to hit and cherry picking easy cases doesn’t really show me anything on talent. Advertising material. Do your research. #lawyersoftiktok #lawtok #lawyer #legaltiktok #lawyerfees
https://www.tiktok.com/@dettmanlawinjurylawyer/video/7592256781406014751
How much should a lawyer charge? Billboard lawyers do a fantastic job of ‘no fee guarantee’ advertising on all the billboards, which is what every personal injury lawyer that I know does. We don’t charge by the hour. We only get paid at the end of the case when we resolve it, and it’s a percentage of the recovery. Sometimes lawyers are going to charge you 25 percent of the recovery. In my opinion, that is a scenario where they’re trying to move the cases as fast as possible, and I don’t know if they’re litigating those cases to the full extent that they’re supposed to be. My personal opinion is that’s not a good look. On the other side of this thing is 45 percent lawyers. They’re charging you a very high rate. I think it’s okay if it’s a sophisticated medical malpractice case. I do not think it’s okay if it’s a run-of-the-mill case – a dog bite, a slip and fall, a car crash. Those are cases where if you’re paying 45 percent, in my opinion, you’re basically paying for the advertising budget of those big firms. You’re buying billboards for those big lawyers that are all over the highways. My firm charges anywhere between 33 and a third percent for pre-litigation, meaning no lawsuit. Nine times out of ten – maybe eight times out of ten – we’re able to resolve a case without a lawsuit with insurance companies. One or two times out of ten, the insurance company isn’t treating my client fairly, treating them more like a number than a person, and I end up filing a lawsuit. I do file a decent amount of lawsuits, and I litigate a whole bunch of cases. Other lawyers call me to litigate cases as well. I’ve tried 59 trials to verdict right now. I probably have somewhere in the range of 75 cases open in litigation. So if an insurance company is not going to pay my client, I’m going to try to swing at their heads, right? We’re charging 33 and a third to 35 percent for pre-litigation, 40 percent for litigation, which in my opinion is a reasonable rate. I’m not going to win every case. Some cases I’m going to swing for the fences and I’m going to lose, but swinging for the fences is important. If you’re not doing that, you’re not telling the other side that you have the ability to do it, and that may lower what the client gets at the end of the day – which is obviously not a good scenario. My job is to get that number up as high as humanly possible.
