If you have a claim for compensation from BP for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and you are considering seeking legal advice, but are concerned about paying a lawyer, then one solution may be retaining or hiring a BP oil spill lawyer on a contingent fee basis.
What is a contingent fee? A contingent fee is a fee that is literally “contingent upon” or only payable in the case of a successful recovery of money damages. I most cases that means “no recovery, no fee”. (You will often see lawyers advertising in the local yellowpages use the phrase “No Recovery. No Fee”. This means they are willing to accept accident or personal injury cases based upon a contingent fee agreement.)
The amount of the fee a lawyer can charge, based upon a contingent fee agreement, is typically set by the judicial arm (the courts) of the State in which the agreement is entered into. This can vary from State to State. It may also vary based upon the status of the claimant (an imcompetent) or the age of the injured party or claimant (a minor may be subject to a lesser or lower maximum fee).
One thing you should understand is that contingent fee agreements are not based upon rules that are written in stone. While an upper limit or percentgage of the “fee portion” of a recovery (the amount subject to a contingent fee or the “maximum fee” / maximum percentage that may be charged) is usually established by Court rule or State statute a lower percentage or lower limit (cap) fee is or can be negotiated with a lawyer on a case by case basis.
So, what should you do?
First, determine if the lawyer you plan to consult with accepts cases on a contingent fee basis.
Second, determine if their agreement is an “all or nothing” agreement. In other words, “no recovery means no fees AND no reimbursement of their out-of-pocket costs”.
Third, ask if their contingent fee percentage or cap is “flexible” or negotiable. Many experienced attorneys will not negotiate their contingent fee, in part because IF they accept difficult cases as well as more clear cut cases THEN, to a degree, the “easier fees” (rare, but not never) tend to help “wash out” the losses incurred (both invested time and money) in the more challenging cases. You can ask but be prepared for a simple “No” answer.
On the other hand, if you have a substantial and readily determined claim then it may be possible that a lawyer will craft a tiered-contingent-fee agreement. In such an agreement the fee would be payable based upon the stage at which the claim is settled and paid, with a lower fee paid if the claim is settled early and a full fee if the claim is only paid after litigation is necessistated by the failure of BP (or any defendant) to pay and settle a good faith claim.
Fourth and foremost: Read the contingent fee agreement before signing it. Take your time and actually read it. Ask questions if any part of the agreement is unclear to you. If it is, ask that the lawyer make the language clearer or unambiguous. It should be rare that a contingent fee agreement needs rewriting since such agreements are used many times, over many years and are often standardardized by Court rule. However, you are a consumer and, as a consumer you are in the driver’s seat in any transaction. Just realize that if you have serious doubts a) you may be reading into an agreement something that’s not really a concern; or, b) you may, in fact, have confronted a real issue and if that’s the case then it may also be the case that the last person to “explain it to you” is the person who wrote the dubious agreement. I would say such a case is extremely rare, as a lawyer will realize he or she can be sanctioned for bad acts and the evidence would be of their own making.
Finally, you should know that even though contingent fees are common in cases where someone or some company has been injured in their person or property, it is also possible for such cases to be handled based upon an hourly rate or other fee agreement.