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How much of the settlement will I keep?
My name's Kenneth Berger. I practice law here in Columbia South Carolina, and I want to
answer this question for you
to eliminate myths, and provide some certainty about what
in your case is gonna look like. You've probably heard horror stories
about a client settling the case for a hundred thousand dollars,
and then only walking away with 10 grand. We never want that to happen to
any of our clients, and we certainly don't want that to happen to you either.
So where does that some money go? Let's first talk about money that's gotta be
repaid.
So let's say your case settles for a hundred thousand dollars before the
lawyer takes any fee, or
before any cost is reimbursed. Before you can receive any money,
you gotta pay back what are known as liens. Liens are, in essence, contractual
obligations that
have to be satisfied out of that settlement money. It's things like paying back the hospital on an
assignment of benefits,
or paying back your health insurance company for treatment they paid for
through the course of your case. Now I will tell you it's a lot easier to pay back
your health insurance company a few thousand dollars,
than to pay tens of thousands in medical bills. So some money is gonna go toward liens,
and probably paying medical expenses.
Next is gonna be attorney's fees. We never want to represent a client who
we don't think is going to benefit
financially from our representation, and also benefit from the relief that comes from
having a lawyer handle your case, rather than taking on these insurance giant's
by yourself. Most lawyers fees are somewhere between 30 and 40 percent,
and my feeling is that the attorney can rightfully charge a fee,
so long as they EARN IT. Then come the costs. Most clients that have been injured,
especially in severe injury cases,
don't have the money to take out of their pocket to pay things like expert
witnesses,
court filing fees, or even for depositions.
So in our cases we advance all of those costs. Sometimes it's
a few hundred dollars, sometimes it can range into the tens of thousands. We
don't charge clients
postage, mileage, client maintenance fees, or anything like that. It's simply
checks that I've got to write out of my
operating account, and at the end of the case, the lawyer
is reimbursed for those expenses. The only other option is for the client to pay
along the way, which, this probably won't surprise you
not my clients ever have. So once the
contractual obligations are met, once the lawyer is repaid,
once the costs are reimbursed, you keep the remainder of
the settlement. Now the fee might say the lawyer is gonna receive 33 percent, 35 percent, or
even forty percent. A lot of times that's what our fee says, but I can tell you
this.
We have never put more money in our firm's bank account
at the end of the case, than a client puts in their pocket. So if we gotta reduce our fee to
make sure the client walks away with more than we do, that's what
we do for you. When you ask how much of your settlement will you keep,
the answer is it depends. But I can certainly tell you it's gonna be more
than my firm walks away with, because you're the one who got hurt.
We're just the ones who have the honor of representing you. To find out how you can get a
free consultation,
or for free copies of my books, call us today. I look forward to helping you.