Depending on the circumstances of your case, it may be possible to hire a wrongful death lawyer without needing to pay any money upfront. A wrongful death lawyer may be able to take a case on a “contingency” basis. This means that the party asserting the claim will not need to pay anything to the attorney unless and until the attorney is able to recover financial compensation. The attorney is then usually paid an agreed-upon percentage of the total financial recovery the attorney obtains.