How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Lawyer?
When you find yourself in legal trouble, hiring a good lawyer is advisable so that you can ensure you are treated fairly in the court system. Before hiring a lawyer, understanding how attorneys charge and what they cost is important. Legal costs can be high, and you need to choose a fee structure that suits your needs.
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Hourly Attorneys
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One way that an attorney could charge you is by the hour. With this type of payment structure, the attorney will simply keep track of how many hours he works on your case. Then you will be billed at the hourly rate of the attorney. Hourly rates can vary significantly from one attorney to the next. In small towns, you might expect to pay somewhere between $100 and $200 per hour for help. In major metropolitan areas, you could pay as much as $400 per hour for help, according to the 2009 Billing Rates and Practices Survey, a study conducted by Incisive Legal Intelligence on the rates of attorneys at small and midsized firms.
Lump-Sum Fee
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Instead of charging by the hour, some attorneys prefer to negotiate a flat fee that comes in the form of a lump sum. With this type of arrangement, you can sometimes save money when compared with the hourly rate. You can negotiate a certain payment and then it does not matter how many hours the attorney works. This is often the way to go if you know that you will be dealing with a very involved case that could take much effort to solve.
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Contingency Payment
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Some attorneys work on a contingency basis instead of charging by the hour or in a lump sum. With a contingency payment system, the lawyer does not charge a fee unless a specific outcome is reached. For example, unless the lawyer wins your case, he does not charge a fee . While this can reduce the amount of money that you have to pay upfront, it can also be much more expensive than the alternatives. In this case, the lawyer could take as much as one-third of the settlement amount.
Retainers
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In some cases, the lawyer will ask you to pay for a retainer fee. A retainer fee is essentially a certain amount of money that is paid to the lawyer in a lump sum as an advance of the hourly fee. This is basically a combination of the hourly charge and the lump-sum payment. If the attorney does not end up working that many hours, he usually keeps the retainer. If he works more hours, he will bill you accordingly.
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