Bill of Cost - Personal Injury

Depending on what part of the country the case is in, and the attorney's experience and level of expertise, a standard rate for a personal injury lawyer might range from $150 to $400 per hour. Since a trial can take upwards of 50 or 60 hours -- sometimes significantly upwards!

This means that if you are successful in your personal injury claim case, the defendant has to pay all or most of your legal expenses in addition to your personal injury compensation award. The defendant will pay for the solicitors' professional fees, engineer's fees, medical report fees and other expert report fees.

On the low end, an injury case might settle for only a few thousand dollars. But many personal injury cases settle for much more. An average personal injury settlement amount is anywhere between $3,000 and $75,000.

Contingency Fee Percentages In the majority of cases, a personal injury lawyer will receive 33 percent (or one third) of any settlement or award. For example, if you receive a settlement offer of $30,000 from the at fault party's insurance company, you will receive $20,000 and your lawyer will receive $10,000.

A general rule is 75% to 100% higher than what you would actually be satisfied with. For example, if you think your claim is worth between $1,500 and $2,000, make your first demand for $3,000 or $4,000. If you think your claim is worth $4,000 to $5,000, make your first demand for $8,000 or $10,000.

How Much Compensation Is Typical in Personal Injury Cases? More than half of our readers received payouts ranging from just $3,000 to $25,000. But another 26% of readers received over $25,000, making the overall average $52,900.