Oregon Personal Injury: What is a "Contingent Fee Agreement"
Attorneys and clients can enter into many different types of fee agreements. For personal injury cases in Oregon, a contingent fee agreement is the norm. Contingent fee agreements allow injured Oregonians access to a lawyer without having to pay up front for legal help.
We use contingent fee agreements with our Oregon and Washington personal injury clients. In this type of agreement, the attorney fee is based on a percentage of any recovery made for the client on their injury claim. So, if the attorney is not able to recover any money for the client on the injury claim, there is no fee. However, if there is a recovery, then the attorney charges a percentage of the amount recovered. There are other aspects to the fee agreement worth mentioning.
First, our agreement specifies that any offers of settlement are reported to our client, and that our client has the last say on whether to resolve a personal injury claim. This is required, and it's a good thing. Of course, our clients seek our advise, and we ensure that a client has all of the information she needs to make the right decision.
Most all contingent fee agreements include a provision that talks about costs. Costs are things that we spend money on to prepare the personal injury case for a settlement demand, a legal suit, or a trial. Our office will usually pay these costs up front. Then, that the case's conclusion our clients reimburse us for any costs that we advance.
