While many areas of law such as family law require you to pay your lawyer by the hour on top of a retainer fee when it comes to personal injury lawsuits the method of payment is completely different. Instead of charging an hourly fee, most lawyers will charge you a contingency fee. Essentially, the lawyer will pay for all/most of the upfront and will receive a percentage of the final settlement or court award. This percentage varies, but often can be around 30%. While this might sound like a big cut, it’s important to keep in mind that personal injury cases can sometimes take up to two years to settle and during this time the lawyer is working on the case mostly free. Coupled with the fact that the lawyer can help you receive a higher compensation, then a contingency fee is a wonderful alternative.