At Bautista LeRoy LLC, we hear the phrase "no win, no fee" a lot, and we hear a lot of questions about it too.  Clients in our Kansas City, St. Louis, and Bentonville offices often want to know what it really means before they agree to work with a lawyer.  It's a fair question.  Here's a plain explanation, without the legal jargon.

The Basic Idea

"No win, no fee" means you don't pay your attorney anything for their time unless your case ends in a settlement or a win at trial.  If the case doesn't succeed, you don't owe us a fee for the work we put in.  You also don't owe us for the expenses like expert retainers, deposition costs and other items we pay for to develop the lawsuit.  This is often called a contingency fee arrangement.

We use this approach because most people who get hurt in a car accident, a fall, or because of a negligent truck driver, defective product or medical error are already dealing with medical bills and missed paychecks.  Asking them to also pay hourly legal fees and case expenses on top of everything else just doesn't make sense.  Most injury lawsuits would never get off the ground.  A contingency arrangement means you can hire a lawyer and pursue what you're owed no matter what your bank account looks like right now.

How the Fee Works

When a case is successful, our fee comes out of the money recovered, usually as a percentage that we agree on together before we start working on your case.  That percentage can depend on how complicated the case is and whether it settles early or goes all the way to trial. The standard fee is a third or 33% of the recovery.  The percentage may increase for types of cases which require specialized experience and/or capitalization.  A railroad grade crossing collision case, where we would have to sue a Class I railroad and all of its resources, for example, would garner a higher fee percentage than your standard trip-and-fall case in a grocery store.  The percentage might also increase at various stages of the litigation when more manpower and funds are expended.  We always put this in writing up front so there's nothing to guess about later.

No Fee Doesn't Always Mean No Costs

This is where a lot of people get confused, so we like to explain it clearly.  There's a difference between attorney fees and case costs.  Costs are the expenses that come up while building your case, things like court filing fees, investigators, medical record requests, expert witnesses, and depositions.

At Bautista LeRoy LLC, we cover these costs as we go and only get paid back for them if we win your case.  That means if we don't win, you're not stuck with a bill for those expenses either.  That's part of the risk we take and our cost of doing business.  We think that's how it should work, and we're happy to walk through exactly how this applies to your case during a free consultation.

Why This Setup Benefits You

When your lawyer only gets paid if you do, your interests and ours line up.  We're motivated to fight for the best possible outcome, not to rush a case along or settle early just to close the file.  We're also not going to do unnecessary work to “pad” our monthly billing, which is always a possibility with non-contingency fee arrangements.  Our team has represented clients across Missouri and Arkansas, and we take that responsibility seriously.

Of course, no win, no fee isn't a promise that every case will succeed.  We review the facts of each case carefully before we agree to take it on, because we're investing real time and resources alongside you.

Questions Worth Asking

Before you sign with any law firm, it's worth asking a few things.  Even in our plaintiff's litigation industry, there are likely differences in how firms make their client agreements.

What percentage would you take if we win the case?  Is there a difference in percentage if we settle the case pre-suit versus settling it after filing?  Does that percentage change if we go to trial instead of settling?  Will I owe anything for costs if we don't win?  How do costs get paid back if we do win?

The Bottom Line

No win, no fee means you can pursue the compensation you deserve without paying anything upfront and without worrying about how you'll afford a lawyer while you're trying to heal.  It's meant to give everyday people a fair shot against insurance companies and big corporations that have plenty of lawyers on their side.  It's meant to level the playing field, so to speak.

If you've been hurt and you're not sure what your options are, reach out to Bautista LeRoy LLC. We have offices in Kansas City, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and Bentonville, Arkansas, and we offer free consultations with no obligation and no pressure. The author, Jose M. Bautista, is a partner at Bautista LeRoy LLC.  Should you have any questions or wish to discuss the article, our attorneys can be reached at www.bautistaleroy.com or 816-221-0382.