Poynter & Bucheri’s fee is only 25%* on motor vehicle accident cases.
*The 25% fee applies only to motor vehicle (car, truck, and motorcycle) accident cases settled prior to trial. If there is no recovery, the client owes no fee. Case costs and expenses paid by the firm are reimbursed from any settlement or recovery. This 25% fee is valid for 15 days after the date last advertised.
Other case types and cases that go to trial may be handled under a different fee agreement—ask during your free case review.
Our Fair Fee Cap
If we settle your case before trial, our attorney fee will never be more than your net share of the recovery.
How it works: Once your case settles, we compare our fee with what you’ll take home after case costs and medical bills or liens, including any lien reductions we negotiate. If the fee is larger, we lower it to match your share. Only our fee is lowered; case costs and expenses are not reduced. The cap is written into your fee agreement and shown on your closing statement.
Hypothetical example. Not a past case result. A case settles before trial for $50,000, with $3,000 in costs and $30,000 in medical liens after reductions. A 25%* fee would be $12,500, leaving $4,500 for you. Under the Fair Fee Cap, our fee drops to $8,500, so you also receive $8,500.
*The Fair Fee Cap limits our attorney fee only and applies only to cases settled before trial. Case costs and expenses are not reduced under the cap. It doesn’t promise any recovery, settlement amount or result, and past results don’t guarantee a similar outcome. “Net share” means the amount paid to you after the attorney fee, case costs and expenses, and medical bills or liens (after any reductions) are paid. The cap applies only when it’s written into your signed contingency fee agreement.
How much do injury lawyers charge in Indiana?
Injury lawyers usually charge a contingency fee: a percentage of the money recovered, set in a written agreement the client signs. Indiana does not set one standard percentage, but the fee must be reasonable. Expenses and medical liens are separate from the fee.
What a contingency fee is
With a contingency fee, the lawyer’s fee is a percentage of what the client recovers, whether by settlement or verdict, instead of an hourly bill. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee. That arrangement lets people hire a lawyer after a crash or fall without paying out of pocket for the lawyer’s time.
What Indiana requires in a contingency fee agreement
Indiana Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 sets the ground rules. Every fee must be reasonable, and a contingency fee agreement must be in writing, signed by the client, and must state:
- How the fee is figured, including the percentage the lawyer receives if the case settles, goes to trial, or is appealed
- Which litigation and other expenses will be deducted from the recovery
- Whether those expenses come out before or after the fee is calculated
- Any expenses the client must pay whether or not the client wins
When the case ends, the lawyer must give the client a written statement of the outcome and, if there is a recovery, show the amount paid to the client and how it was calculated. Source: Ind. Prof. Cond. R. 1.5.
When the fee percentage can change
Rule 1.5 expressly contemplates different percentages for settlement, trial, and appeal, so the stage at which a case resolves can change the fee. Read the agreement carefully and ask when, if ever, the percentage changes.
Illustration: the fee on a $30,000 recovery
This is an illustration only, showing the attorney fee portion alone. It is not a prediction of what any case is worth, and it does not include case expenses, medical bills, or liens, which are paid separately.
- 25%* fee: $7,500 fee, leaving $22,500 before expenses and liens
The 25%* line applies to Poynter & Bucheri’s fee only on motor vehicle (car, truck, and motorcycle) accident cases that meet the conditions marked with the asterisk above.
Case expenses are separate from the fee
Case expenses are the out-of-pocket costs of building a claim: medical record and bill requests, police reports, filing and service fees, deposition transcripts, and expert or engineer fees in cases that need them. Indiana allows a lawyer to advance court costs and litigation expenses, and repayment may depend on the outcome (Ind. Prof. Cond. R. 1.8(e)). Every agreement must say which expenses the client owes even without a recovery.
Whether expenses are deducted before or after the fee is calculated changes the math. Illustration only: on a $30,000 recovery with $2,000 in expenses and a 25%* fee, taking the fee first gives a $7,500 fee and leaves $20,500. Taking expenses out first leaves $28,000, so the fee is $7,000 and $21,000 remains.
Medical bills and liens
The fee and expenses are not the only things paid from a settlement. Depending on who paid for your treatment, others may have a claim to part of it:
- Hospitals. Indiana law lets a hospital hold a lien for the reasonable value of its services on a personal injury recovery, with some exceptions, including patients covered by Medicare (IC 32-33-4-1).
- Medicare. If Medicare paid for injury-related care, it can recover those conditional payments from a liability settlement, judgment, or award (CMS: Medicare’s Recovery Process).
- Health insurance. Your health plan’s terms may include a reimbursement or subrogation provision. Check your plan documents.
- Unpaid medical bills. Bills that no one has paid remain your responsibility.
Ask any lawyer how liens and unpaid bills will be identified and handled before money is paid out.
Questions to ask any injury firm
- What percentage will you charge, and does it change if a lawsuit is filed, the case goes to trial, or there is an appeal?
- Are expenses deducted before or after your fee is calculated?
- Which expenses would I owe if there is no recovery?
- Who pays case expenses while the case is open?
- How will medical liens and unpaid bills be handled at settlement?
- Will I get a written closing statement showing every deduction?
- Which lawyer will handle my case day to day, and how will you keep me updated?
Have questions about a fee agreement or an Indiana car accident claim? Call (317) 780-8000 or toll-free 1-800-265-9881, or send the free case review form. See our Indiana car accident guide and published case results.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay an injury lawyer up front?
Usually not. With a contingency fee, the attorney fee comes from the recovery, and there is no attorney fee if there is no recovery. At Poynter & Bucheri, if there is no recovery, the client owes no fee and no costs; the written agreement must say how fees and costs are handled.
What is Poynter & Bucheri’s fee on a car accident case?
Our fee is only 25%* on motor vehicle accident cases. *The 25% fee applies only to motor vehicle (car, truck, and motorcycle) accident cases settled prior to trial. If there is no recovery, the client owes no fee. Case costs and expenses paid by the firm are reimbursed from any settlement or recovery. This 25% fee is valid for 15 days after the date last advertised.
Does Indiana cap personal injury lawyer fees?
Indiana’s professional conduct rules require every fee to be reasonable and require contingency agreements to be in a signed writing that explains the percentage and how expenses are handled.
Are medical bills paid out of my settlement?
Often, yes. Hospitals may claim a lien, Medicare can recover payments it made for injury-related care, and health plans may have reimbursement rights. Unpaid bills remain your responsibility.
What should a contingency fee agreement say?
In Indiana it must be signed by the client and state the percentage for settlement, trial, or appeal, which expenses are deducted, whether expenses come out before or after the fee, and which expenses you owe even without a recovery.
General information only—not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different; deadlines can be shorter in some situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.