If you think that you have been wrongfully terminated from your previous job, you will need to hire an employment lawyer to help you with your case. In this article, we’ll help you to understand the lawyer fees for your wrongful termination case so that you can have a better grasp on how you should plan your budget. With that said, let’s get into it.
How Lawyers Charge
- There are several different types of payment options for a lawyer’s service, depending on the type of job and services that you’re looking for. For example, if you’re looking for a consultation, you can expect to pay an hourly fee. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a representative in court, you may have to pay on a case-by-case basis.
Listed below are a few different types of legal fees that you will need to know so that you have an idea of what to expect when you hire a lawyer for a wrongful termination case:
Hourly Fees
- As mentioned, services such as legal consultation and auditing are usually charged by the hour. The rates will differ based on the nature of the case, the location of the legal office, and the lawyer’s reputation. For instance, a consultation with a famous lawyer regarding a complex case in New York is certainly going to cost you a lot more than a simple case with a local lawyer in Indiana.
Unbundled Services
- Instead of paying an inclusive fee for all of the services offered, you may prefer to look for a lawyer who can offer separate services to you and allow you to pay for them individually. For example, if you only need help dealing with the administrative work and document filings, you can look for an administrative agency to help you with the tasks. It’s a good way to save money, as you will get only the amount of work that you need and not more. This can help you to control your budget more effectively in certain situations.
You need to make sure that the isolated services that you’re looking for are the only things you need. You wouldn’t want to risk having to pay more than you would due to the delays to the court process. It’s still important that you consult with a legal advisor before you choose to go this route.
Contingent Payment Plan
- Most law firms nowadays offer a contingency payment plan for their case representative work, meaning that if you don’t win the case, you don’t have to pay anything. This is a good way to ensure that the firm will work hard on your case, as they only get paid when you do.
You will still have to pay the firm once the case is won, depending on the nature of the case. The court may conclude that the employer should pay your legal fees as compensation along with additional fees that they will have to pay. You have to remember that this is not the case every time, so you shouldn’t rely solely on the compensation to cover the costs of your lawyers.
Retainer Fees
The retainer fee is the payment given to the lawyer before they work your case, and it’s usually calculated based on the expected work in the week or month to come. This may or may not be refundable depending on the services and the payment policy of the law firm, so you will need to make sure that you understand what you’re paying for so that you don’t risk overpaying your lawyer for services that you don’t need. Although most reputable law firms won’t try to cheat their clients, it’s still a possibility that you have to consider. The retainer is also used as a future fund and the lawyer may withdraw money from the retainer fund if needed. It really depends on how the firm plans out their financial strategy.
Negotiate for a Refund or Discount
You may be able to negotiate for a lower fee or a refund depending on the nature of the case, but this is not something that you can always expect. For example, it’s possible to negotiate for a refund or lower fee if the actual workload of the case is much less than what was expected. However, it’s not likely that you will get this discount, as an experienced lawyer will understand the complications of the case by reading the case review. They will already have a decent idea of how the case is going to be before they even begin.
Legal Actions
- There are several different legal actions you can take, and these actions will cost you a different amount depending on the difficulty. For example, if you’re planning to file a lawsuit against your former employer, it’s going to cost you more than if you were to negotiate through litigation. This is an important factor that you can’t overlook when determining how much the case is going to cost you.
Romanosky Law specializes in protecting individuals that have had a wrongful termination in NJ.
Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
