What are the Expenses I’ll be Charged in my Personal Injury Case?

Most personal injury case retainer agreements provide for a one-third legal fee contingent upon a recovery (by verdict or settlement) and will include language something like this:

The percentage fee is calculated on the net sum recovered after deduction for expenses and disbursements properly chargeable to the case such as investigation and expert fees.

So what’s that mean?

It means that the expenses and disbursements (we’ll give examples in a moment) are deducted from the total sum recovered from the defendant (and reimbursed to the lawyer who, after all, advanced those items out of his own bank account). The result is the "net" fee, and it is a percentage of that lower figure on which your lawyer’s fee is calculated.

So the one-third legal fee is on the net, fine. But what are the expenses and disbursements that are "properly chargeable?"

Let’s get the easy ones out of the way first. Here are several typical plainly proper categories and also some typical amounts you might see on the closing statement. (The closing statement is what your lawyer files with the court system at the end of your case to advise the authorities of the recovery, his fee and his disbursements.):

Here are expenses and disbursements that are plainly wrong and have resulted in lawyer disciplinary action:

Here are some other expenses and disbursements that have been held may not be charged to the client, but did not result in lawyer disciplinary action:

The key for clients is this:

Make sure your questions about expenses and disbursements are answered to your satisfaction, and that when you sign a contingency fee retainer agreement for your personal injury claim, it accurately and completely answers your concerns.