This blog could easily be called the “You get what you pay for”article.
What am I talking about in English?
You may have heard about some law firms claiming that they only charge a portion of what other attorneys charge. They say why go with any other law firm besides us?
We charge the lowest attorney fees in the area.
Many attorneys charge 33 1/3% in a personal injury case if the case settles without a lawsuit being filed. If a lawsuit is filed then the fees are 40% of any settlement.
Most personal injury lawyers will also advance any fees necessary to pursue the case.
All cases have fees and costs associated with a case.
For example, your doctor or the hospital where you were treated at will provide your attorney your records. But to do so they charge a fee.
Pittsburgh wrongful death attorney, car accident and slip and fall attorney Bernie Tully pays those fees on behalf of you the injured victim. If we get a recovery we get reimbursed those costs.
If we do not get you a $$$ recovery by way of settlement or jury verdict we eat those costs.
That means you do not pay for the $$$ we advance in your behalf unless we win your case.
But then we get to the issue of attorney fees.
Our law firm does not handle injury cases on a reduced fee basis like some of those low fee law firms you may have heard about on tv or in the papers.
The reason for that is simple.
I believe that a law firm who charges fees less then the standard for other attorneys in the area may have to cuts services or cut corners somewhere along the line in their representation.
Maybe attorneys that charge fees at these lower rates are able to somehow give you first rate quality legal representation.
I just don’t see how that can be done without cutting some corners somewhere.
After all, paralegals salaries must still be paid. Secretary salaries must still be paid. Investigators fees must still be paid. And records like those discussed above must still be obtained in order to get a $$ offer from the insurance company.
In my opinion, a lawyer who charges a lower legal fee than what is standard in the area is going to have to make up for that lower fee by doing a higher volume of injury cases.
They may have to turn more cases over quickly in order to keep their doors open because of the lower fees.
What if your case is one of those?
The same principle applies to lawyers who advertise on TV.
TV time is awfully expensive.
Do those lawyers have to turn cases like yours over quickly in order to pay for the TV time?
I don’t know. But it is sure a legitimate question to ask yourself.
The question then becomes how that low fee high volume caseload impacts the QUALITY of legal representation in YOUR case.
You are free to choose any lawyer to represent you in your injury case. Including those who do it at a very low fee rate.
Just remember what your mom told you about if something seems too good to be true…
Thanks for reading.
How about them Steelers?
Bernie the attorney