Those commercials with the lawyers pointing at the camera and wearing bad suits may elicit a laugh or two. You may even envy those actors holding up checks for very large amounts of money. While receiving money is always good, there’s a lot that these pointing attorneys aren’t telling you. Let’s see from the point of view of a personal injury lawyer in Seattle.
Hint: You Will Wait
And wait. And wait. Yes, you read that right. Filing a personal injury claim involves a whole of waiting. Why is that? Attorneys need time to prepare their cases, they need to take their arguments before a judge and the insurance company needs to be consulted. (That in itself is going to take a while.) So be prepared to wait a long time before you receive any money from a settlement.
“How long?” you’ll inevitably ask. That depends on a couple of factors. If your case is straightforward and without a lot of complications, you could see a settlement check in as little as a year. However, you should note that this is the minimum amount of time it can take. If your personal injury case was particularly contentious, it could be up to three years before you see any money.
Even though you may be initially disheartened, know that this isn’t the fault of your attorney. There’s absolutely nothing your attorney can do to speed up the process. That may not be comforting when the bills are piling up and you have no way to pay them. However, it wont help matters if you’re calling your attorney every day.
How Much Will I Need to Pay My Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer?
Attorneys in Seattle and elsewhere will often agree to work with you on a contingency arrangement. A contingency arrangement is simply an agreement by your attorney that she will not get paid unless she wins your case. Even though that may sound great, note that contingency can often be very high.
“How high can they be?” you may ask. Most attorneys expect to be paid at least a third of any settlement you receive. This does not include mandatory fees. You may think that this is robbery, but your attorney will be working for a long time without any compensation.
Now that you know what to expect in the personal injury claim process, you can go forward with realistic expectations. Know also that your personal injury lawyer Seattle is working day and night on your case. Even if you don’t see results immediately, shell work until there’s no more work to be done.