How Much Does Personal Injury Lawyer Make? The report says it depends between $83,605 to $99,000 a year. The average personal injury lawyer make about $86,342/yr. Honestly, their earnings vary on different factors. Total cash in compensation, case type, duration of the settlement, the complexity of the case, etc influences the profits of a personal injury lawyer. Many attorneys include certain costs during a personal injury case. For example, legal fees, expenses, contingency fees and others. By calculating all the costs, their earning will vary from case to case. Still, two major factors determine how much a personal injury lawyer makes: case type and the settlement percentage. So below are more details that you should understand before concluding what personal injury lawyers earn.
How Much Does Personal Injury Lawyer Make: State Wise
Depending on the state, personal injury lawyers get different salaries. California, New York, and Massachusetts are the highest-paid states for this job. Average salaries in these states vary between $171,550 – $165,610 per annum. On the other hand, some states also offer lower wages for personal injury lawyers. For example, the packages in Montana, Mississippi, West Virginia are $88,600 -$98,630 per annum.
Below is the list of salaries for personal injury lawyers state-wise.
- Louisiana – $105,490
- Arizona – $145,750
- Virginia – $139,180
- New Jersey – $139,020
- Connecticut – $153,640
- Illinois- $152,980
- Texas – $150,250
- Colorado – $147,560
- Kentucky – $100,100
- South Carolina – $105,320
- Arkansas – $98,780
- Idaho- $99,360
- Wyoming – $105,600
- New Mexico – $105,910
What Percentage Do Most Injury Lawyers Take?
Most personal injury lawyers take a contingency fee from their clients. It is a fixed percentage applied to your final settlement amount. Generally, the rates vary between 33% to 40% on your final recovery amount. Before taking the case, You always will sign the fee agreement from you. However, you can reduce the fee rate by negotiation.
How Much Does A Top Personal Injury Lawyer Make?
In the USA, most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee. The report says 20% of top personal injury lawyers don’t work for any law firm. Those who work in agencies get a monthly salary. But those who didn’t earn by their case agreements.
Most lawyers take a specific percentage on your final settlement amount, but few cases may be charged hourly. This fee structure agrees when the clients don’t have any insurance money to claim.
Still, if the damages are more, you have insurance and chances to get big settlement money, and you always will agree on a fee percentage. Suppose you have a possible settlement of a hundred thousand dollars. In such cases, lawyers will divide the fee into three different parts.
Legal Fees
As mentioned, most lawyers take a contingency fee which means a predetermined percentage of your final settlement amount. Generally, the rates vary between 33%-40%. So when you agree on this settlement, $33,000 – $40,000 will go to the lawyer’s pocket.
Legal Expenses
Now the lawyers will count other legal expenses deducted during the case. The most common examples are traveling costs, witness expenses, legal procedure fees, and court charges.
Medical Expenses
Now comes medical expenses for the physician checkup, hospital bills, and other outstanding governmental costs. These expenses are also filed during the court procedures that mainly operate by your lawyer.
After deducting all the expenses, your lawyer will deliver the final settlement amount to your bank account.
Conclusion
So these are the details about how much money a personal injury lawyer makes per annum. As mentioned, earnings depend on many factors. Attorneys who work for agencies get paid by state-wise salary structure. On the other hand, individual lawyers make money from contingency fee charges from a client.
