If you have to consider hiring a wrongful death attorney, please accept our condolences for your loss. When faced with the tragedy of losing a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, the last thing you should have to worry about is the financial strain of pursuing justice.
Our New York wrongful death lawyers understand that this is a difficult time for your family and we are here to address any questions you have about the legal process or your case’s merits. Our fee, which is the standard one-third of the amount recovered, is typical for New York wrongful death cases. Learn more about wrongful death cases and how an attorney can assist you.
- Factors that Influence the Cost of Your Wrongful Death Case
- Can the Cause of Wrongful Death Affect Your Case’s Costs?
- Are our Wrongful Death Lawyers Worth the Cost?
- Discuss Your Wrongful Death Case with Our Attorneys for Free
Factors that Influence the Cost of Your Wrongful Death Case
No two cases are alike. The needs of your situation—and the wrongful death law firm you hire—will influence how much your wrongful death lawyer costs. You and your lawyer will need to consider:
How Your Case Affects Legal Costs
To receive compensation, you must prove wrongful death by collecting relevant evidence from as many sources as possible and presenting that evidence to the insurance company and/or in a court of law. This often takes months or years. How long your wrongful death lawsuit takes to settle or resolve, or more precisely, how far along through the claims and litigation process your case needs to go to reach a resolution, significantly influences your case’s costs.
A case that settles early on, in the claim stage will have less associated costs than a case where a lawsuit has been commenced which in turn will have less costs than a case that actually goes through a trial.
The amount of compensation you receive also impacts your costs, as law firms like ours base our attorneys’ fees on how much you recover. For example, given that our legal fees are 33 percent of your compensation, the more you win, the more we receive in payment. It is important to consider that this arrangement unites us in interest with our clients. In addition to our professional commitment to our clients and our fierce determination to win the best possible case outcomes, we are financially incentivized to obtain the best possible case outcomes as well. The more we win for our client, the higher our fee.
How the Insurance Company Affects Legal Costs
The insurance company has a great deal of influence over your case. If they are open to negotiations, your case could go much quicker than if they refuse to cooperate and compel our legal team to take your case to trial.
Going to trial could mean incurring much higher costs. Most significantly, the fees typically charged by expert witnesses, such as medical doctors and experts in other disciplines, can add up to high dollar figures.
The advice we ultimately give you as to settling your case versus going to trial takes many factors into consideration. Among the factors we consider is the role that the expenses of trial, when weighed against the goal of winning the best possible outcome, will play with respect to getting you the most favorable net result.
How Your Attorneys Affect Legal Costs
Before hiring any firm, ask plenty of questions about their fees and what and when they expect to be paid.
Many law firms, including ours, ease the financial burden on families like yours by charging a contingency fee. This means you pay nothing upfront, and there is a legal fee only if and when we win your case.
For a free legal consultation, call 516-932-0400
Can the Cause of Wrongful Death Affect Your Case’s Costs?
Yes, it is possible that the cause of your loved one’s fatal injury will impact how much you end up spending on the case. For example:
- If your loved one was hit by a truck, the trucking company might be liable. Trucking companies are large, powerful entities with the resources to resist legal actions like yours. Their reluctance to cooperate could lengthen your case and, therefore, increase its costs.
- If your loved one was killed in an accident with multiple liable parties—such as a car crash where both a driver and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) were responsible—it may take us more time to identify, confront, and negotiate with all of these parties.
It is impossible to know ahead of time how much your case will cost because not every obstacle is predictable. However, our wrongful death lawyers will provide updated estimates as your case progresses, and we will never take action without explaining to you the possible costs, benefits, and risks involved.
Are our Wrongful Death Lawyers Worth the Cost?
You and your family will have to make that decision. As you consider your options, you should think about:
- If you have sufficient legal knowledge to be able to confront the liable party’s insurance company
- If you have the emotional stamina to manage a legal action that could take years to complete at the same time as you are processing your loved one’s passing
- If you are confident in your ability to accurately assess your case’s worth and figure out when and if the insurer offers you an appropriate settlement
- The statute of limitations, found at Estates, Powers & Trusts § 5-4.1, which limits the amount of time you have to begin a wrongful death lawsuit
What You Get in Exchange for Hiring Our Wrongful Death Attorneys
Before you hire us, we will explain the terms of our contract and fee agreement. You will not be surprised by unexpected fees or costs at any time. In exchange for the agreed-upon fee, our legal team will:
- Manage all communications so you do not have to speak directly to the at-fault party or their representatives by yourself.
- Determine what types of damages you qualify for, including loss of companionship, funeral expenses, medical expenses, and loss of financial support.
- Ask for an appropriate settlement to be paid to your family in a timely manner.
- Collect and present evidence to show that you deserve the compensation you are asking for.
- Dealing with all necessary paperwork and ensuring you understand all proffered settlement agreements before you sign them.
After a wrongful death, your family deserves closure, justice, and appropriate compensation. Our legal team will fight for these things while you focus on grieving and figuring out what you want to do next.
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Discuss Your Wrongful Death Case with Our Attorneys for Free
When you hire Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., to manage your case, you do not have to worry about how much a wrongful death lawyer costs. Our legal team works on contingency and does not expect you to pay us until we win. Call us today and get a free consultation from a dedicated personal injury firm with over a century of combined experience.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form