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If you are considering bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit but are concerned about the fees and costs involved, note that every Illinois medical malpractice lawyer that we know and recommend works on a contingency basis.

What is a contingency basis?

The attorneys are not compensated unless the case is successful. So, in other words, if you get nothing, you owe nothing. Attorneys in the medical malpractice industry consider this the cost of doing business in this particular area of the law.

How much will my attorney get?

In Illinois, a medical malpractice attorney's fee is limited to

1. 33 1/3 percent of the first $150,000 recovered,
2. 25 percent of the next $850,000 recovered, and
3. 20 percent of any amount over $1,000,000.

If the attorney performs extraordinary services involving more than the usual time and effort, the attorney may petition the court for additional compensation.

So, if you recover $500,000 either via a settlement or a jury award after trial, your medical malpractice attorney will get $137,500, which is $50,000 (one third of the first $150,000) plus $87,500 (25% of the remainder).

What about court costs and witness fees and other expenses?

Please note that almost every Illinois medical malpractice lawyer that we recommend advances all of the costs of litigation. You should not have to pay anything out of pocket although when they win the case, the lawyers of course get reimbursed their expenses. So if the case is won for $500,000 and the lawyer fees are $137,500 (as described above) and the expenses on the case are $60,000.00, the client would net a little over $300,000.

What is your #1 piece of advice?

Since every medical malpractice attorney works on a contingency basis, the cost of a prominent Chicago malpractice law firm is the same as a one person malpractice attorney in Glenview. So you want to hire the firm that gives you the best chance of success. In our opinion there are about not a ton of law firms that can demonstrate real success in these complex cases. There are also few firms that can afford these expensive cases which are often lost at trial. So our biggest piece of advice is look for a lawyer with a lot of success who has the ability to finance the case from beginning to end, sparing no expense in trying to win for you.

Now what?

If you have any questions about Illinois medial malpractice laws or would like to speak with one of our lawyers for an honest, independent analysis of your case and/or a lawyer recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.