A lawyer that charges contingency fees gets paid when a client receives an anticipated compensation. Still, the size of the lawyer’s total fee could include a request of reimbursement of certain expenses. The money that serves as such a reimbursement is called a disbursement.

More about disbursements

As a lawyer works to help a client obtain valuable evidence, that same lawyer may need to use some of his or her pocket money, in order to cover certain charges. That money might be used to cover things like the cost of a certificate, the payment to the phone company for long distance calls, the cash paid for photocopies and the money paid for media reports, an accident report or other documents.

All Personal Injury Lawyers in Mississauga pay such disbursements, regardless of the nature of the client’s complaint. The personal injury lawyer does not ask to be reimbursed for such disbursements until he or she has reason to request a contingency fee.

Other fee-schedules used by different types of lawyers

A lawyer may elect to charge a retainer fee. The client pays that upfront. Sometimes it serves as the down payment on the lawyer’s total charge. Some lawyers charge an hourly fee. Not every lawyer has the same approach, for determining the rate charged per hour of work. A number of different factors contribute to establishment of such a rate. Those factors include things like the complexity of the case, the type of relief sought by the client, the legal issued involved, the level of skill demanded of the client’s chosen lawyer, the amount of money involved and the seriousness of the legal matter.

A lawyer that charges an hourly rate gets to decide on the time when he or she can ask for payment of the calculated fee. Such lawyers normally set up some type of schedule; the time for the sending-out of bills to clients gets determined by the lawyer. The smart client budgets for the time when he or she expects to be receiving the lawyer’s bill.

A given lawyer’s hourly rate signals to a degree the extent to which he or she feels ready to handle a more complex case. Under the structure that relies on contingency fees, a client can struggle to determine any one lawyer’s ability to handle a more complex case.

How clients might view the complexity of a case

If a client elects to make a personal injury claim, the client’s case will be more complex in those instances where the client has a pre-existing condition. Indeed, an insurer might point to any time when the plaintiff suffered a medical problem as proof that the plaintiff’s case is not as strong as it seems.