When you speak with a personal injury lawyer or read the Costs Agreement your lawyer gives you there may be mention of the 50/50 rule. It is important that you fully understand the 50/50 rule and how it can impact your claim and what money you will receive in the hand when your claim settles.
Unfortunately, some years ago a few law firms in Queensland were charging personal injury clients outrageous amounts of money in legal fees. One firm was known to settle a claim and then take every cent of the settlement money and send a Tax Invoice to their injured client requesting further money.
This was a shocking state of affairs and the Queensland Government enacted certain laws to stop this including the 50/50 rule.
The 50/50 rule is basically the concept that your lawyer can only charge 50% of the monies remaining from any settlement amount after deduction of statutory refunds and legal outlays. For example, if your claim settles for $100,000 and the statutory refunds are $10,000 and the legal outlays $10,000 then this will leave $80,000 meaning your lawyer can charge a maximum of $40,000, that is 50%.
You may think that this is an outrageous amount of money for legal fees and you would be right. The 50/50 rule was made to protect clients but many firms now see it as the minimum they can charge and ensure that every Tax Invoice obtains the 50% allowed for legal fees.
No Win No Fee Lawyer
At Your Claim Lawyers, we do not use the 50/50 rule and we guarantee that your legal fees will never be anywhere near 50% of the monies remaining. This ensures that you recover the maximum amount from your total settlement.
We are a no win no fee lawyer and will always take your personal injury claim on a no win no fee basis.
To find out more please call Your Claim Lawyers on 1800 968 725 or 0400 839 314 for a free consultation with a no win no fee lawyer.