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What does "No Win No Fee" mean?

If you are injured in an accident you need a lawyer to represent you in order to ensure that you get fair compensation. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who can't afford a lawyer. In this case hiring a lawyer who works on a no win no fee basis is usually a good idea since any payment that you will need to make will come out of the money that you win.

Basically what no win no fee means is that your lawyer will not charge you their regular fee but instead will accept part of any money that you receive as their payment for service. In many cases this can be a fairly large amount so you will need to keep that in mind. The advantage of this type of arrangement is obviously that it means that you only pay if you actually win your claim. This is important for a lot of people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer otherwise.

In general lawyers are only going to agree to a no win no fee arrangement unless they are reasonably sure that they can win. After all your lawyer is not going to want to waste his time on a case that he is not going to get paid for. Therefore a lawyer will review your case in order to determine how likely it is that you will win. If the determines that there is a good chance then he will agree to represent you on a no win no fee basis. In many cases the percentage of any settlement that your lawyer takes will be anywhere from a third to a half of the settlement that you receive. This can take a pretty big bite out of your settlement.

It is important to keep in mind that no win no fee does not necessarily mean that you won't incur any expenses as a result. Your lawyer will waive his fee but it is quite likely that he will charge you for any expenses that are involved in preparing your case. Since all cases involve expenses you can expect that you will get a bill for these. In some cases the cost of the expenses can be quite substantial if you have a complicated case.

no win no fee photo law office

The question then becomes should you hire a lawyer on a no win no fee basis? This can be difficult to answer in a lot of cases. Obviously if you otherwise wouldn't be able to hire a lawyer to represent you then it is a good idea. On the other hand if you can afford a lawyer's fees it may not be such a wise move. In general the cost of the fees would be less than the percentage that your lawyer will take from your claim. However you are going to have to consider things like the likelihood that you will win and the amount that you are likely to receive.