Paying for an Attorney and Legal Aid Options
If you were recently injured by someone else’s actions, you may desire compensation but feel you cannot afford to file a personal injury lawsuit. Lawyers have a reputation for being quite expensive and many people feel similarly to you. However, there is almost always legal aid available to make it a little easier to afford legal services. Common types of legal aid include:
- Legal Clinic
- Pro Bono Attorney
- Legal Aid Law Firm
Learn more about each of these types of legal aid so you can pursue legal action without worry.
Legal Clinic
Legal clinics function very similarly to medical clinics. Legal advice can be offered for free, which can point you in the right direction. In some cases, even simple legal services can be performed for free, although it is common for legal clinics to be limited only to advice and consultation.
Pro Bono Attorney
The American Bar Association recommends that every attorney provide 50 hours of legal service for free each year. This is not an obligation, but many lawyers follow this advice. This means it may be possible for you to find an attorney who is simply willing to take your case for free.
Legal Aid Law Firm
There are some law firms which operate on private funding and state grants. This allows them to reduce how much they charge the clients they represent, or in some cases even charge nothing at all from the client. Legal aid law firms only take certain clients that truly cannot hope to afford an attorney, so you need to qualify.
Plaintiff Attorney
If you were injured by someone else’s actions, then that makes you the plaintiff in your case. It is very common for the attorney of the plaintiff to charge nothing upfront for legal services. Instead, the plaintiff will collect a percent of the award in your case. If you lose your case, then you will owe nothing. This allows people who could not afford to hire an attorney to still get legal representation and pay for it from the amount they will eventually win.
However, the percent that most attorneys claim is usually quite high. This is because the attorney is taking on an enormous amount of risk. They will usually pay all legal fees out of their own pocket and there is no guarantee that they will win it back. This option is much more viable if your case is very strong. Whatever you decide to do, you should know that representing yourself is a very unwise decision. Call a personal injury attorney, like a personal injury lawyer in Minneapolis, MN, today for help.
Thank you to the experts at Johnston | Martineau PLLP for their input into personal injury law.