Will my personal injury attorney advance the costs of my case?

Yes — in the overwhelming majority of personal injury cases, your attorney advances all of the case costs and is reimbursed from your recovery at the end, so you pay nothing out of pocket while the case is pending. Case costs are separate from the attorney's contingency fee and include expenses such as court filing fees, charges for obtaining medical records and police reports, expert witness fees (often the largest cost in serious cases), deposition and court reporter fees, investigation expenses, and the cost of trial exhibits. Because personal injury attorneys work on contingency, they take on the financial risk of fronting these expenses, and if the case is lost, most attorneys absorb the costs rather than billing the client — though you should confirm this in your fee agreement, because some agreements technically make the client responsible for costs even in a loss. When you win or settle, the advanced costs are deducted from the recovery, either before or after the contingency percentage is calculated (deducting before reduces the attorney's fee and benefits you). Always review the cost provisions of your retainer agreement so you understand which expenses are advanced and how they are repaid.