The Contingency Fee System: 
Your Key to the Courthouse

Imagine you were seriously injured by a defective product. You  deserve to be compensated for your medical injuries, lost earnings, permanent disabilities, pain and suffering, but how could you, a consumer with limited resources, afford to take to court a big manufacturing company with much greater resources?

Thanks to the contingency fee system, consumers who have been injured can hire top legal representation and pay them when and if they receive a judgment or settlement. If the lawyer and client lose the case, then the lawyer doesn't get paid one cent, and may even have to absorb legal expenses that were incurred in handling the case. This system makes it possible for the average consumer -- one whose financial resources are limited -- to afford the best legal representation possible.

In most cases, a contingency fee amounts to about one-third of the settlement of judgment. The amount depends on the difficulty of the case and other factors. But remember: lawsuits can take years to be resolved, and that means the plaintiff's attorney does not get paid in all that time. An attorney can spend countless hours working on a case over a period of several years, only to lose.

The contingency fee system evens the score when a case involves an average consumer who has been injured by a large corporation with financial resources to hire teams of attor- neys. This system also helps keep frivolous lawsuits out of the courts, because no lawyer wants to accept a case on a contingency fee basis if it is without merit, or there is little chance of winning.

We live in a country where our rights are protected by the Constitution and our disputes are settled according to law. Sometimes we must turn to the legal system to protect our rights or settle disputes. The contingency fee is our key to the courthouse.

Because of the contingency fee system, since the 1970's clients represented by Brown & Szaller have resolved serious injury lawsuits arising from auto accidents, defective products and medical malpractice.