The contingency fee explained
A contingency fee is a payment arrangement between a client and a lawyer under which the lawyer's fee is a percentage of whatever amount is recovered, and is only owed if there is a recovery. Contingency fees are the standard arrangement in Michigan personal injury cases for a reason: they let injured people hire top-tier trucking litigators without having to write a check while they're still in a wheelchair.
Michigan Court Rule 8.121 — the one-third cap
MCR 8.121(B) sets a maximum contingency fee in Michigan personal injury and wrongful death cases:
"The maximum allowable contingent fee for an attorney of record shall be one-third of the amount recovered."
Under MCR 8.121(C), the fee is computed on the net recovery — that is, the amount recovered after case expenses are deducted. The rule applies whether the case settles before suit, settles after suit is filed, or goes to a jury verdict.
What "case expenses" actually means
Truck cases are expensive to litigate. Expenses are advanced by the firm and reimbursed at the end of the case — only if there is a recovery. Typical case expenses include:
- Accident reconstruction experts.
- Trucking-industry safety experts.
- ECM ("black box") download and analysis.
- Medical record and imaging retrieval.
- Life-care planners and economists for damages.
- Deposition transcripts and court reporter fees.
- Court filing fees.
- Copying, service of process, and mediation costs.
A concrete example
Assume the case settles for $600,000 and the firm has advanced $30,000 in case expenses.
- Gross recovery: $600,000
- Minus case expenses: $30,000
- Net recovery: $570,000
- Attorney fee (⅓ of $570,000): $190,000
- To the client: $380,000
If there had been no recovery, the firm absorbs the $30,000 in expenses and no fee is charged.
PIP no-fault fee-shifting (a bonus)
For the PIP portion of a truck case — the medical bills, wage loss, attendant care your own no-fault insurer should be paying — Michigan has a fee-shifting statute in the plaintiff's favor.
MCL 500.3148(1) provides that a court can order a PIP insurer to pay reasonable attorney fees when the insurer has unreasonably refused or unreasonably delayed payment of overdue benefits. Those court-shifted fees are paid by the insurer, not the client — and they are on top of any contingency fee arrangement.
What about medical liens?
Medical providers, Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurers may hold subrogation rights or liens against a personal injury recovery. A good trucking lawyer negotiates these liens down before distribution so you keep more of the settlement — but they are separate from attorney fees and case expenses.
Why "cheap" lawyers are expensive
Some firms advertise reduced contingency percentages. In trucking cases that almost always means one of three things: (1) they settle fast and cheap without developing the case, (2) they don't advance real expert expenses, or (3) they refer the case out to another firm and take a referral cut off the top. A one-third fee on a case that is actually worked up usually nets the client several times more than a "discounted" fee on a case that isn't.
Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Call Jay Trucks & Associates for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. We'll explain exactly what the contingency fee means in your case, walk through the likely expenses, and tell you whether we think the case is worth pursuing.