Free Lawyers - Pro Bono Vs. Contingency Fee

Pro bono lawyers, contingency fee lawyers... What's the difference? Is there a catch?

For most people, lawyers are perceived to be expensive and out of their reach. Even for those of us who have the money to pay for legal services, we fear that our cases may drag on for an undetermined amount of time which means that you might not have a handle on how much you’ll be paying in terms of legal fees.

The American legal system is constructed in such a way that everyone, regardless of economic status, is able to get the legal help that they need. There are two types of legal services we want to look at in this article: pro-bono and contingency-fees. These two options may be available to individuals who don’t have the money to pay for legal fees on an upfront or retainer basis.

Pro bono.

Pro bono is a term lifted from the Latin. It simply means "for the public good." As a rule of thumb, most lawyers who perform pro bono services do so in order to help those who can’t afford, but need, legal representation. Many states require lawyers to carry out at least 20 hours of pro bono legal service every year. However, it’s not uncommon for many lawyers to do much more than that amount if the case(s) merit it.

Contingency fees.

Contingency fee lawyers (like us) will take on cases at their own expense, and only charge a fee if and when they win your case for you. If your attorney loses your case, you owe him/her nothing. Most every personal injury or wrongful death lawyer takes cases on a contingency fee basis. With a contingency fee arrangement, you can take comfort that you and your attorney share the same objective. There's no reason for a contingency-fee attorney to drag a case out, as that would only cost him or herself more money.

Understand that there are certain things that you must agree to before starting to work with a contingency fee lawyer. For instance, you need to agree on what percentage of your winnings will be paid out to your attorney if (s)he wins the case for you. Most times, this figure is about 40%; however, this rate may fluctuate depending on the facts of your case. If your case settles before going to trial, many attorneys will reduce their fees to around 33-35%.

It should be noted that the law prohibits certain types cases to be tried on a contingency fee basis. These include criminal cases, child custody cases and divorce cases.

With a contingency fee arrangement, the plaintiff assumes no financial risk. If you lose your case, you do not have to pay any attorneys' fees. You are also allowed to fire your attorney, but they reserve the right to drop you as a client at any time as well.

Looking for a lawyer?

Rasansky Law firm ONLY takes cases on contingency. We never require clients to pay us a single dime out of their own pocket.

We’d like to help you get the justice that you need, and we want to help you do it in a timely manner. Please get in touch with us today at (214) 651-6100 for your free consultation. Alternatively, you can shoot us an email 24 hours a day, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you.