Costs of Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

If you have been injured in an accident and believe that you are entitled to compensation for your injuries from the party responsible, then you may be wondering what the costs for filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Litigation is the term for the process of taking a case through the civil court system, and it can be quite expensive. However, the rewards may greatly outweigh the costs. We have outlined the costs of filing a personal injury lawsuit below.

Lawyer’s Fees

These are the fees that you pay your attorney to argue your case in court. In most personal injury cases, the plaintiff’s attorney will often work on contingency. This means your attorney will get a percent of portion of the award following the completion of case, and nothing if the plaintiff does not win.

This motivates your attorney to deliver the best possible representation and will not leave the plaintiff with the burden of high court costs. Most attorneys will stipulate a higher contingency is the case must be litigated as opposed to settled out of court. This fee will typically float around one-third of the award if the case is settled out of court and 40% if it goes through litigation.

Expert Witness Fees

Another expenditure you may face in a personal injury lawsuit is expert witness fees. Experts used to testify in your case are not cheap and some injury cases may require multiple experts. For example, an engineer may testify about the safety products or vehicles. Perhaps a medical expert will be enlisted to help your case. These experts can fetch several thousand dollars for their expert testimony.

Administrative Fees

Lawsuits are document intensive endeavors and require transcription, copying, messenger and delivery costs. The cost of transporting and organizing documents can be quite high for personal injury cases and should be factored into the total cost of your lawsuit.

Court Filing Fees

Court filing fees are typically relatively low but over the course of a long trial can add up. The total costs in this area can amount to several hundred or seven several thousand dollars.

If you believe you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit give us a call today and we will be happy to take you through the process.

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