The costs of litigating an aviation accident case can total hundreds of thousands of dollars. The expenses may include expert fees, deposition costs, investigation costs, and court fees. Under the contingency fee agreement, the client does not pay any litigation expenses. Instead, the attorney does. The attorney is reimbursed only if there is a settlement or a judgment in the client’s favor.
Not all attorneys have the financial strength to fund a case properly. As the case progresses, some attorneys may feel pressure to settle on terms that aren’t in the client’s best interests because they can’t afford to risk their “investment” at trial. Defendants can sense when a plainitff’s attorney cannot afford to try a case and take advantage of that weakness. Therefore, before signing a contingency fee agreement, the client should satisfy himself that the aviation attorney is capable of funding the litigation all the way to the end.