How much will a personal injury attorney charge?

No Fee Unless Successful: In personal injury claims, personal injury lawyers are required to sign contingent fee agreements with their client that provide, in part, that the attorneys fee is contingent upon compensation to be paid for the recovery of damages, and the client is not to be liable to pay compensation to the lawyer other than from amounts collected for him/her by the personal injury lawyer.

Most attorneys charge a contingent fee of 33 1/3 percent of all money received unless it is a medical malpractice claim. Massachusetts law limits contingent fees in medical malpractice cases be determined by the following sliding scale:

  1. Forty percent of the first one hundred and fifty thousand dollars recovered;
  2. Thirty-three and one-third percent of the next one hundred and fifty thousand dollars recovered;
  3. Thirty percent of the next two hundred thousand dollars recovered;
  4. Twenty-five percent of any amount by which the recovery exceeds five hundred thousand dollars.

Expenses: In addition to the legal fees, the client is responsible for payment of all out-of-pocket expenses. Examples of out of pocket expenses include filing fees, costs for medical records, costs of deposition transcripts, expert witness fees, travel and investigation expenses, court costs, and other incidental expenses. We do not ask our clients to reimburse us for expenses unless you receive compensation for your claim.