• By Daniel Smith
• Published 04/19/2012

A victim of an accident may choose to file a claim for compensation for the injuries sustained due to the negligence or fault of another. However, before this, you need to have an understanding of the costs associated with personal injury claims. If you were considering filing a personal injury claim, you need to consult a solicitor for advice, guidance and representation.

After you have instructed your solicitor in this regard, he/she needs to provide you with the details of the legal fees that he/she would charge for the services. It is not possible to give you a definite sum as the legal costs differ from one case to another. However, your solicitor needs to provide an estimate of the legal fees, or at least, the basis on which you would be charged for the legal services.

In most cases, you may need to pay the solicitors’ fees only after the conclusion of the case. However, if the chances of losing are high, the solicitor may ask you to pay the fees in advance. It is a good idea to choose a solicitor who works on a ‘no win no fee’ agreement. This would make sure that you need not pay anything to the solicitor until you have won the case and obtained compensation for the injuries.

What do the solicitor’s fees comprise of? Apart from the professionals fees that the solicitor charges for his/her services, this may include charges from third parties, like any Government agencies, and miscellaneous charges, like transport and phone costs. Your solicitor cannot charge you on the basis of a certain percentage of the compensation amount you are awarded by the court.

What factors affect the solicitor’s fees? Here are the important ones that affect the fees your solicitor charges for their services.

• Complexity of the matter
• Urgent nature of the case
• Difficulty of addressing the relevant issues
• Specialised knowledge, skill and labour involved
• Type and number of documents drafted and analysed
• Value of transactions associated with the legal process
• Time spent on the matter
• Value of the resources utilised
• Place where the case was pursued

If you won the case, the court may order the other party to pay for your legal expenses, making it easier to handle the financial aspect of injury claims. However, this is not possible if the case is settled by the Injuries Board Ireland.

You may have to pay the legal costs of the other party along with paying the legal costs you incur in certain circumstances. This may happen if:

• You lose the case
• A court does not award you the legal costs
• You agree to accept an amount that is less than the full claim
• A court awards costs against you

It is a good idea to seek clarification from your solicitor if you are unable to understand the amount he/she charges for each of the services. This would ensure that there are no problems regarding legal costs at a later stage of the case.

Author Bio

Daniel Smith is a legal expert and consultant. He provides tips and suggestions regarding the calculation of costs for personal injury claims Ireland. If you were looking for information on accident claims, he suggests you to visit http://www.personalinjurydirect.ie/for more details.