Why Would You Go Out And Hire An Attorney With More Than a Decade of Legal Experience At An Outrageous Hourly Fee Costing Hundreds Of Dollars An Hour Whether You Win or Lose the Case When You Can Hire The Same Attorney For a Small Percentage Of The Recovery With A No Recovery, Zero Fee Guarantee?
As an experienced Florida trial attorney who has handled dozens of complex injury cases since 2001, I am continually amazed that many lawyers still have not abandoned what I consider to be the dinosaur of billing method – the billable hourly rate. As a consumer, I recently had the opportunity to consult with a lawyer on a trusts and estate matter that was well out of my area of expertise. I was looking for a will or revocable trust. I was shocked to learn that many of the attorneys that I contacted were charging fees ranging anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per hour. Moreover, I would be billed per hour for each attorney working on the case. That meant that if I went to a conference with 5 attorneys, I could end up with a bill for that would cost up to $5,000 an hour!
It was therefore no great surprise when I recently read in an attorney trade journal that billings at many of the large law firms are way down and clients are seeking alternatives in fee arrangements. It appears the day of excessive hourly legal billings is going out of style and if those lawyers don’t adapt, then they may end up without future clients.
For my entire career, I have believed that an attorney should be rewarded if he is successful in obtaining a good result for his client. That means if there is no recovery, there should be no fee; and if there is a recovery, the lawyer should be entitled to a small percentage. I believe that attorneys who work on a contingent or contingency fee basis perform a valuable service to the public because they take cases that poor and middle class clients could not otherwise afford to bring. I find that most clients dislike paying high hourly attorneys’ fees and that they like to tie their lawyer’s compensation to performance. It gives him added incentive to produce great results. Obviously, a contingent fee lawyer has an incentive to work harder on a case where he stands to earn a percentage of the recovery as a fee.
The Ortiz Law Firm is a Florida catastrophic injury law firm. The Ortiz law firm focuses its personal injury practice on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases throughout the State of Florida. We thoroughly screen and investigate each of our potential cases to evaluate its merits. If we decide to accept your case, we will fully dedicate our resources towards a favorable recovery. If we don’t win, you don’t have to pay us a fee.
If you would like to have a free no-obligation consultation to learn more about our no recovery, zero-fee guarantee, please contact us online at www.NickOrtizLaw.com or call us at (850) 898-9904.
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