When you hire an attorney in Illinois, you are responsible for their fee and their expenses. In an hourly fee case like a divorce, those expenses come out of the retainer fee and are billed monthly or whenever they charge you on a case. It works way differently on cases where you hire the attorney on a contingency basis.

Most Illinois contingency fee agreements are for injury cases like car accidents, workers compensation, medical malpractice, etc. Those contracts will say something to the effect of the attorney will receive a percentage of any recovery that is made (1/3 for malpractice, 20% for work comp by State law). It also will state that the client is responsible to reimburse the attorney for expenses. But how does that work?

The type of case determines how big the expenses are. Illinois workers compensation cases typically have very low expenses, often under $200 and rarely into the five figures.

Medical malpractice cases on the other hand can be very expensive. They are almost always in the mid five figures and if they progress to trial it’s not at all unusual for them to cost into the six figures. Paying experts for their opinion and time can be very costly.

Personal injury cases like car accidents typically fall somewhere in between unless they settle without a lawsuit being filed. The court filing fees alone are usually more than a work comp case costs. If the case involves a serious injury it is probably that multiple depositions will be needed, including those of experts potentially.

The way it works is that when a case settles, the contingency fee is taken out and then the attorney gets reimbursed out of what’s left before paying you. So if the case settles for $90,000 and they have a 1/3 fee, that leaves $60,000. If their expenses are $5,000 and nobody else is owed money like a doctor, you’d net $55,000.

What you will find is that the more lucrative the case, the more likely it is that a lawyer will charge you for expenses instead of eating the cost. What do we mean by that?

Well in workers comp cases, most expenses are for issuing subpoenas for medical records or potentially paying doctors and court reporters for testimony time. In a catastrophic injury case or malpractice lawsuit, you’ll probably see attorneys adding expenses for copying records, postage, mileage, etc. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but trying to help people understand what really happens. This is why it’s important before starting a case with a lawyer that you ask what will or won’t be charged as an expense. It’s all negotiable. I’d be wary of a a work comp attorney who charges for photo copies, but not a malpractice attorney who does.

A common question we get is, “Do I have to reimburse my lawyer for the expenses if we lose the case?” It’s kind of a trick question. The contract you sign will surely say that you do. The reality is that no attorney we recommend does this. You should certainly ask about this before hiring a lawyer, but this is generally a risk attorneys take when bringing a case and why lawyers can be selective about which claims they pursue. You don’t want to spend $100,000 and not make a recovery.

This can be confusing, but it’s an important topic. If you have ANY QUESTIONS, you can call us FOR FREE and speak with a lawyer at 312-346-5320. It’s always confidential and no commitment.