How much are the legal fees in a negligence case?
Most New York personal injury law firms operate the same way: First, there is no legal fee for an initial consultation. If the case is taken it is usually done on a contingency basis, which means that the lawyer gets paid only if the client gets paid. This is an incentive for the lawyer to only take good cases with serious injuries, and it relieves a burden from clients who would not otherwise be able to afford a good attorney. Legal fees are governed by the Judiciary Law, which establishes a limit of 1/3 of any recovery as the fee, with the exception of medical and dental malpractice cases where the fee is lower (see below). Over the course of the representation, there will be expenses that most attorneys will generally advance on behalf of the client, such as for medical records, experts, stenographers, and certain court filings. There may be exceptions to this, and a good attorney will candidly discuss them with you. (For example, if a settlement offer is made that the attorney reco
