No Win No Fee No Uplift

Fees in Personal Injury Claims

When choosing a lawyer for your personal injury claim - 'no win no fee' - can be a main criteria. As your claim progresses and certainly when you get close to settlement, the fees your lawyers will charge at the end, will have a direct effect on how much of your settlement money you will actually receive.

It is critical to find a lawyer who is, no win no fee, and to be sure they will only charge reasonable fees at the end of your claim.

There is significant variation in how lawyers charge fees for personal injury claims. Hourly rates and estimates in a Costs Agreement don't always give a clear indication of what a final bill will be. No one can predict exactly how your claim will progress and how much time will be involved to settle it.

The most likely predictor that your fees will be reasonable, is having a trustworthy, experienced lawyer and legal team who genuinely cares about you and your situation. We recommend you meet a few lawyers before you retain one. Ask lots of questions and get an instinct or feeling for their integrity and how genuinely interested they are in you and your situation. After speaking with them do you feel like they are compassionate and understanding; that they know what they are doing, and you feel protected by that; that they will fight to get the best possible outcome for you. These are all indicators they will not overcharge you. They will genuinely want to keep their fees reasonable, as they will want you to get as much of your settlement money as possible.

Choosing a lawyer

How much will the fees be at the end of my claim?

It is impossible to know in advance, exactly how much fees will be. O'SheaDyer personal injury claims lawyers, charge fees based on the amount of time they spend progressing your claim. The total amount of time taken can only be known as your claim progresses. Each claim is unique and has its own issues and challenges - and so takes it's own amount of time. We make estimates based on our experience with similar claims, but there will always be some variation.

If you are meeting with a lawyer to consider whether you will retain them for your claim, consider asking these questions:

Do you charge any uplift fees or any care and consideration fees?
Do you charge by recording the time spent progressing the claim - or do you charge a percentage of the settlement amount?
If my claim ends up settling for less that you thought, do you adjust my fees down?
What are the hourly rates of everyone who will be working on my claim?
Why is the estimate in the Costs Agreement so wide?
Do you ever adjust the estimate in the Costs Agreement? If you do - why?

We are transparent about fees. We are no win no fee no uplift lawyers and offer first appointments for free.

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Free Case Assessment.
First Appointment Free.
Second Opinion Appointments Free.

All Compensation and Injury Claims are No Win No Fee and No Uplift.

Call or contact us for a free case assessment. We'd love to help you.

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What does No Win No Fee, mean?

No win No fee describes when fees are paid in a personal injury or compensation claim matter.

At O'Shea Dyer, if you retain us as your lawyers for your compensation claim, we will act for you on a No Win No Fee basis.

No Win No Fee means:

1. There are no fees to be paid unless you win. 'Winning' effectively means your claim progresses to a settlement or a favorable judgement from the court. If your claim is unsuccessful, we don't seek reimbursement of any fees or expenses incurred.

2. It also means you don't pay fees until your claim is settled.

We understand that most people who are injured or ill are not able to pay a lawyer to do the work needed to progress their claim. Many also can't pay for medical and expert reports that are required to make their case or progress their claim. No win no fee, essentially means, you don't pay fees until your claim is settled or finished.

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What does No Uplift mean?

Most people, when choosing a compensation claims lawyer, only look for no win no fee - and that's all. We encourage people to find out at their first appointment if they will be charged an uplift fee as well. Many firms charge an uplift fee or 'care and consideration' which can add up to 25% to your bill. While it may not seem relevant at the start of your claim, it will be very relevant at the end. The amount of your bill determines how much settlement money you will receive in your hand.

You are entitled to ask your lawyer all about how fees are to be calculated on your matter.

O'Shea Dyer Solicitors are available to answer all questions about fees for no charge. We charge reasonable fees and are committed to our clients receiving as much of their settlement money as possible.

Our fees are based only on the time we spend progressing your claim.

We have hourly rates for the different people who work on your claim. The rates correspond to their experience and qualifications. At O'Shea Dyer Solicitors a higher hourly rate is commensurate with experience. (This may not be the case at other firms.) Also, a more experienced lawyer should do things more quickly and bring their extensive experience to strategy employed for the claim progression.

Our hourly rates are reasonable and probably lower than what many other firms charge. There are many law firms who charge high hourly rates for their time plus an ‘uplift’ fee of up to 25%. We only charge for time spent on your claim.

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At Your First Appointment...

At your first appointment for a compensation or personal injury claim, we will listen to your story in order to find out what has happened to you, and how you are affected.

We can then determine whether you're likely have a successful injury claim, compensation claim or an entitlement to a superannuation TPD Claim. We then work out what to do moving forward in order to progress your claim towards a settlement.

Depending on your situation, we can discuss with you the possibility of a:

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How much are Fees likely to be?

After your first appointment, we will give you a Costs Agreement which includes our best estimation of fees at that time. It is impossible to give a 100% accurate estimation until your injuries have stabilised. We can certainly talk to you about what they might be depending on your recovery. Our professional fees are always very reasonable. We are committed to you receiving as much of your settlement money as possible.

We charge fees based on the time spent working on your matter. Fees are never calculated as a percentage of your claim. Our experienced compensation claims lawyers have reasonable hourly rates commensurate with their experience. We recommend you speak with a few lawyers to discuss how they charge fees before you retain one. There is a lot of variation in how law firms charge their fees.

We will give you a formal estimate of fees and costs in a Costs Agreement at the outset of your matter and will discuss fees with you throughout your matter.

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Costs Agreement

Compensation claims lawyers in Queensland are required to provide their clients with a Costs Agreement that contains an explanation of how costs are calculated and a fee estimate. We provide all our clients a detailed costs agreement after the first appointment. We will also provide as many explanations about it as you need/want. You can then decide whether to retain us or not. We go to great lengths to ensure people understand fees and we are committed to being as open and transparent as possible.

There are always many unknown factors in a claim. Sometimes unexpected things come up that need investigating. Many professionals charge their time to prepare reports (eg. doctors, expert witnesses, barristers). Every claim requires its own strategy so that the best outcome can be obtained. Some take longer than others. Unless your claim settles very early in the process, there will be many people involved in your claim. Many professionals invest hours, weeks and months of work into completing a compensation claim.

The difference between 'Fees' and 'Expenses and Outlays'

Fees - or ‘professional fees’ is the amount we charge for time we spent working on your claim.

Expenses and outlays - are for reports etc. needed to make your case and progress your claim. They include things like doctors' reports, expert reports, barristers' advice and fees for attending conferences and court, and court fees. These can add up to thousands of dollars. We only incur these costs if it is necessary for your claim and to get you the best outcome.

We engage an external finance company to cover the costs of these expenses. This company charges interest to do this. The fees and interest are paid back to the finance company at the end of your matter when you receive your settlement money. Some clients - if they can afford to - chose to fund these expenses themselves to avoid interest.

Fees paid by the other side - There are occasions where some fees and expenses are paid by ‘the other side’. This is regulated by various laws and will be discussed with your lawyer in detail.

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O'Shea Dyer Solicitors - Injury Lawyers Townsville, Queensland and Interstate.

We are no win no fee and no uplift personal injury lawyers. We are compassionate, experienced, and committed to efficient progression of your claim. Make an appointment to see our experienced personal injury claims lawyers sooner rather than later, to ensure your rights are protected.

First appointments for a case assessment or a second opinion are free. We would love to help you.

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