Costs & Fees
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost in California?
Short answer
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
California personal injury lawyers are paid on contingency, which means no hourly rate and no retainer: the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, and there is no attorney's fee if there is no recovery. The consultation is free. Whether you owe case costs when nothing is recovered depends on the written fee agreement, so read that clause before signing and ask the firm to explain it.
What a contingency fee actually is
You pay nothing up front. The attorney advances the work, and the fee is calculated as a percentage of the gross recovery when the case resolves. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney's fee.
Contingency percentages are set by the written fee agreement and commonly increase if the case must be filed in court or tried, because the work and risk increase substantially at those stages.
Fees are not the same as costs
Costs are the out-of-pocket expenses of building the case: filing fees, records, deposition transcripts, expert reports, service of process, exhibits. Firms typically advance these and are reimbursed from the recovery.
The critical question is what happens if the case does not recover. Some agreements waive costs entirely; others make the client responsible. Ask which one you are signing.
What comes out of a settlement, in order
A settlement is disbursed in a defined order: the attorney's fee, then case costs, then medical liens and health-plan reimbursement claims, then the net to the client.
Lien negotiation is where a large amount of real client money is won or lost. Reducing a hospital or health-plan lien increases the client's net without changing the settlement number at all.
Our arrangement
Hollywood Injury Law Center offers a free consultation and charges no fee unless we win your case. Call (323) 850-0101 to talk to an attorney about your case and get the fee terms in writing before you decide anything.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the consultation really free?
- Yes. Case evaluations at Hollywood Injury Law Center are free and carry no obligation to hire the firm.
- Do I pay anything if I lose?
- There is no attorney's fee if there is no recovery. Responsibility for advanced case costs is governed by your written fee agreement — confirm that term in writing.
- Can I change lawyers mid-case?
- Yes. A prior firm may assert a lien for the value of its work, which is normally resolved out of the eventual recovery rather than paid by you directly.
Talk it through with an attorney — free
Hollywood Injury Law Center represents injured people across Los Angeles County from our West Hollywood office. No fee unless we win your case.
This page is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Hollywood Injury Law Center — Bash & Polyachenko P.C. is licensed to practice in California. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.