So settlement negotiations with the nursing home have failed and you don’t want to give up until your loved has received the justice they deserve. Your Providence nursing home attorney has advised that you should go to trial. You know very well that going to trial will cost you more money, but exactly how much will you end up spending?
Litigation, a word used to describe the process of taking a case through the civil system, can be very expensive. In fact, we usually factor in the cost of litigation versus settling when determining whether a case is worth settling or taking to trial. The cost of litigation is what drives most insurance companies to settle cases rather than go through the trial process.
So let’s find out how much taking your nursing home abuse case to trial is going to cost you.
Providence Nursing Home Attorney Fees
By now, you know that taking a case to trial means that you will have to pay attorney fees. The good news is that in most personal injury cases, the attorney will work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they will deduct their fees only if they win your case. This means you won’t be unusually responsible for the high cost of attorney fees if you lose your case.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t pay attorney fees if you settle the case outside of court. It’s just that going to trial means the attorney will increase their contingency fee. Remember that the trial process is complicated and involves a lot of work unlike a settlement negotiation process.
Most attorneys typically charge about a third of the settlement amount to cover their fees but when they go to trial they charge up to forty percent.
Expert Witness Fees
Your nursing home attorney will need to call in expert witnesses to testify about your loved ones injuries. Depending on the nature of your case, your attorney might need to call in medical professionals to testify the type of medical treatment or injuries your loved one received, accident reconstruction experts to testify how your loved one’s accident might have happened, etc. We need to emphasize that many experts might be called in to help your case and you might end up paying them thousands of dollars, which will be deducted from your settlement amount.
Administrative Fees
Filing a lawsuit includes tons of paperwork. Then there’s also the issue of hiring a court reporter to take depositions. You also need to cater for delivery, messenger, copying and transcription costs. Sending documents around and obtaining reports can add up fast into hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Other Expenses
There are other miscellaneous expenses such as travel costs, if you need to stay in a hotel, etc.
How Much Does it All Amount to?
We can’t really give you an exact figure because there is no typical trial for a nursing home abuse case. Every case has its own facts and circumstances surrounding it. The cost might vary depending on a number of factors such as the severity of the injuries suffered by your loved one, the number of expert witnesses that will be called to testify, the amount of paperwork needed, etc.
One More Thing
Let’s not forget about the cost in time. Litigation is not a one-day process and many clients are often surprised by how long it takes. They often think it might take a few months to resolve but personal injury cases sometimes take years before an award is actually paid.
When you hire an attorney, it might take at least 30 days for them to file a lawsuit. He needs to first do a thorough investigation of your claim. It usually takes some time before he can start to receive medical records, witness statements, etc. He will then have to wait until your loved one reaches maximum medical improvement. This is the point in your loved one’s medical treatment where they are not expected to get any better through treatment. This however does not mean that treatment is finished. Depending on the type of abuse your loved one went through, it could take several months. This will help your attorney estimate how much your case is worth and they can start the negotiation process. If that doesn’t work, they’ll start preparing for trial. All this takes time.
Has you or a loved one suffered nursing home abuse? Visit our Kevin P Landry offices in Providence to talk to one of our nursing home attorneys or call us at 401-751-0101. All our initial consultations are free.
