Once the lawyer has reviewed the medical records of the client and found that there is a valid medical malpractice case with liability, causation, and damages, the lawyer will either accept the case or refer the client to a lawyer who specializes in such cases. However, the lawyer will have to explain to the client how medical malpractice cases work, and what are its costs. Apart from the costs of fighting the case, the lawyer will be charging fees.
Once the lawyer has reviewed the medical records of the client and found that there is a valid medical malpractice case with liability, causation, and damages, the lawyer will either accept the case or refer the client to a lawyer who specializes in such cases. However, the lawyer will have to explain to the client how medical malpractice cases work, and what are its costs. Apart from the costs of fighting the case, the lawyer will be charging fees.
Lawyer’s Fees for a Medical Malpractice Case in New York
In all personal injury cases, the lawyer is paid on contingency basis, which means the lawyer will receive a percentage of the settlement, or percentage of the compensation awarded by the jury. This percentage will be different for medical malpractice case and other types of personal injury cases. In most negligence cases, the lawyer takes a third of the awarded amount after subtracting the expenses. However, for a medical malpractice case in New York, the fee of the attorney is much less.
The maximum a medical malpractice lawyer can receive is 30% of the awarded amount after expenses. Additionally, the fees are not based on a fixed rate, as the percentage will go down by 5% for each increasing level of the compensation amount. Hence, more the compensation, lesser is the percentage of lawyer’s fees.
What happens when the case is referred to another lawyer?
There are chances that your lawyer will refer the case to another lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice cases. Your lawyer might feel that you have better chances of winning the case when it is handled by someone specializing in that field. In fact, when your lawyer does not specialize in medical malpractice cases, he will be doing you a service by referring your case to a specialist. In such instances, do you owe anything to your lawyer, and will the fees of the other specialist lawyer be more to accommodate any referral charges?
The fantastic or vital news is that you will be paying the same amount as fees, whichever lawyer you choose. Your lawyer might be having an understanding with the specialist lawyer regarding referral fees, but that will be paid out of the percentage, the specialist lawyer receives at the end of the trial. For instance, when the specialist lawyer receives 20% of the compensation amount awarded by the jury after expenses, then he might give 20% of that amount to your lawyer. Hence, you are not affected in any way, since he is paying the referral fees from the amount that he has received. You will be charged only the 20% as your lawyer’s fees.
No Change in the Fees
Nevertheless, your lawyer has to inform you clearly that he will be sharing a percentage of the fees with the referred attorney, and will ask you whether you have any objections to this arrangement. You will obviously have no objections to this, since the amount you will be paying ultimately as lawyer’s fees, remains the same.
