Miami Personal Injury Lawyer — No Win, No Fee

The Law Offices of Albert Goodwin handle personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis. That means there is no fee to retain us, no upfront payment of any kind, and no fee at all unless we recover money for you. We advance every cost of investigation, expert witnesses, court filings, depositions, and trial preparation. If we don't recover, you owe us nothing — not for fees, and not for the costs we advanced.

How Contingency Fees Work in Florida

Florida Bar Rule 4-1.5(f) governs contingency-fee agreements in personal injury cases. The rule sets out a presumptive maximum fee structure that scales based on whether the case settles before suit, in litigation, or after appeal. The standard pre-suit contingency fee is 33⅓% of the recovery up to $1 million, with adjustments for amounts above that. If the case is filed in court and proceeds into litigation, the percentage typically increases to 40% — reflecting the substantially greater work required.

Every contingency-fee agreement in Florida must be in writing, must be signed by the client, and must contain a "Statement of Client's Rights for Contingency Fees" that explains the client's rights and the lawyer's obligations. We provide that document, walk through it with you, and answer every question before you sign.

What Costs Are Covered

Florida personal injury cases involve substantial out-of-pocket costs that our firm advances on your behalf:

• Filing and service-of-process fees
• Court reporters and deposition transcripts
• Medical record and billing record charges
• Expert witness fees — often the largest single cost in a serious case
• Accident reconstruction
• Investigation and surveillance
• Mediation fees
• Trial exhibit preparation
• Subpoenas and witness fees

In a typical Florida slip-and-fall or car accident case, total advanced costs may run from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands. In a serious medical-malpractice or product-liability case, advanced costs can exceed $100,000. We pay these costs out of pocket as the case progresses, and they are reimbursed only from the eventual recovery — never from you personally.

Your Settlement Distribution

When the case resolves, your settlement is distributed according to a written settlement disbursement statement that you sign. The math is straightforward and transparent:

• Gross settlement
• Less attorney's fee (the agreed contingency percentage)
• Less case costs we advanced
• Less any liens (health insurance subrogation, Medicare/Medicaid, hospital, workers' comp, etc.)
• Equals your net recovery

One of the most valuable services a personal injury lawyer provides is negotiating liens — getting health insurers, Medicare, hospitals, and other lienholders to accept reduced amounts. A skilled lawyer can often increase your net recovery substantially through lien negotiation alone.

Why Contingency Fees Make Sense

The contingency fee system aligns the lawyer's incentives with yours. We are paid only if you are paid, and the size of our fee is tied directly to the size of your recovery. That gives us every reason to maximize your recovery rather than to settle quickly for the carrier's first offer. It also gives clients access to legal representation they could not otherwise afford — most personal injury clients cannot pay a lawyer $400 to $700 an hour to handle a case that may not resolve for two years.

The Free Consultation

Before you sign anything, we offer a free, no-obligation consultation. You tell us about your case, we tell you whether we think you have a viable claim and what we believe the case is worth. If we agree to take the case, we provide the written contingency-fee agreement and explain every line of it. If we decline, we tell you so directly — and where appropriate, we refer you to other Florida personal injury lawyers who handle the type of case you have.

The Florida Bar's Sliding Fee Schedule

Rule 4-1.5(f)(4)(B) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar establishes a presumptive sliding scale for contingency fees in personal injury and wrongful-death cases. Before a lawsuit is filed (or up to the time the defendant files an answer or a demand for appointment of arbitrators), the maximum fee is 33⅓% of any recovery up to $1 million, 30% of any portion between $1 million and $2 million, and 20% of any portion above $2 million. Once the case is in litigation through the time of entry of judgment, those percentages step up to 40% of the first $1 million, 30% of the next $1 million, and 20% above. The percentages can increase again if a post-judgment appeal is taken or if the defendant pursues post-judgment relief. Higher fees are not categorically prohibited but require court approval through a separate procedure under the rule, and the burden is on the lawyer to justify the deviation.

Medical-malpractice cases have a separate fee framework. Article I, Section 26 of the Florida Constitution — adopted by voters in 2004 as Amendment 3 — limits medical-malpractice contingency fees to 30% of the first $250,000 of any recovery and 10% of any amount above that. Clients may waive these limits in writing under a procedure recognized by the Florida Supreme Court in In re Amendment to the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. We discuss whether a waiver is in your interest before any med-mal case is signed up.

Costs vs. Fees — The Critical Distinction

The attorney's fee under your contingency agreement is the percentage of the recovery the firm receives for its legal services. Case costs — also called litigation expenses — are the out-of-pocket amounts the firm advances to develop the case. The two are separate line items on every settlement disbursement statement. Florida Bar Rule 4-1.8(e) allows lawyers to advance costs in contingency-fee cases with repayment contingent on the outcome — meaning that if we lose, you owe nothing. This is essential to access to justice in serious-injury cases, where pursuing a hospital, a trucking company, or a product manufacturer requires expert development that the client could not personally fund.

Letters of Protection and Treatment Without Health Insurance

Many injury clients in Miami have no health insurance, or have insurance that does not adequately cover the specialty care they need (orthopedic surgery, spine intervention, neurology, neuropsychology). For these clients, we coordinate care with treating physicians willing to accept a Letter of Protection (LOP) — a written agreement that the provider will be paid out of the eventual settlement instead of demanding payment as services are rendered. Florida law now requires disclosure of LOPs and the medical-billing terms behind them under HB 837, and the carrier's defense team will probe them aggressively at deposition. We coordinate LOP arrangements carefully so the medical narrative holds up under scrutiny.

Your Right to Change Lawyers

Florida clients always have the right to fire a lawyer and hire someone else — that right cannot be contracted away. If you discharge a contingency-fee lawyer before the case resolves, the discharged lawyer is generally not entitled to a contingency fee from the eventual recovery, but may have a quantum meruit claim for the reasonable value of services already performed. That claim does not ripen until the case settles or a judgment is entered, and the new lawyer typically negotiates the discharged lawyer's lien as part of the resolution. The bottom line: dissatisfaction with current counsel is never a reason to walk away from your case. Get a second opinion. If a transition makes sense, the mechanics can be worked out without harming the client.

What "Costs" Actually Cost in a Florida Case

Concrete examples help illustrate why advanced costs matter:

• A single liability expert (accident reconstruction, biomechanics, premises safety) typically bills $400 to $700 per hour and may charge $25,000 to $75,000 for a developed opinion through trial
• Medical experts (treating physicians appearing for deposition or trial) often charge $1,000 to $2,500 per hour
• A life-care planner for a catastrophic-injury case may charge $15,000 to $40,000
• An economist projecting future earning losses charges $7,500 to $20,000
• Deposition transcripts run $5 to $9 per page; a 200-page deposition runs $1,000 to $1,800 just for the transcript
• Mediation fees for a half-day session with an experienced mediator run $1,500 to $4,000 per party

For a serious case, total advanced costs of $50,000 to $250,000 are common. The contingency-fee model means the firm bears all of that risk — if there is no recovery, the costs are written off.

Frequently Asked Questions About Contingency Fees

What if I lose the case — do I owe anything?

No. Under our standard agreement, if there is no recovery, you owe no attorney's fee and no reimbursement of the advanced costs. The risk is on the firm, not on you.

Can the percentage change during the case?

Yes, but only as provided in the written agreement and as permitted by Rule 4-1.5(f). The most common change is the step-up from the pre-suit percentage to the in-litigation percentage when a lawsuit is filed and answered.

Who pays the doctors if I have no health insurance?

We coordinate Letters of Protection with treating providers when appropriate, and negotiate those bills along with all other liens at the end of the case to maximize your net recovery.

What about taxes on my settlement?

Compensation for physical injury and physical sickness is generally not taxable as income under 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2). Portions allocated to lost wages, interest, or punitive damages are typically taxable. We discuss tax allocation in writing before settlement and recommend consulting a tax professional on individual questions.

If you have been hurt in an accident in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Monroe County, contact the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin. Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected] for your free consultation. No win, no fee — that is our promise.