CALL TOLL FREE: 1-800-862-1260. The contingency-fee agreements, while well established in areas such as personal injury and wrongful death litigation, is a relative newcomer to patent infringement law.
The contingency-fee agreements, while well established in areas such as personal injury and wrongful death litigation, is a relative newcomer to patent infringement law. Yet it is rapidly growing in popularity, due to a number of distinct advantages such agreements have over conventional hourly billing.
A contingent-fee agreement does away with attorney fees. Instead, the attorney receives a percentage of the settlement or damages award. The client is still responsible for the costs of litigation. These include, but are not limited to, filing fees, as well as costs associated with service, depositions, transcripts, expert witnesses, and travel.
A patent infringement attorney will only take on contingency patent infringements cases that look strong on the legal merits AND wherein there is good chance at actually satisfying any judgment/settlement. Have you asked why the attorneys you've spoken to are not interested in a contingency fee arrangement...
There are patent attorneys who will take a case on a contingent fee basis, but as others have said, the damages have to be high, and the case has to be a strong one.
What is a Contingency Lawyer? Lawyers and law firms may opt to bill their clients in a number of different ways. For instance, they can charge a flat rate for a specific matter or bill at a set hourly rate for work completed on a case. They may also use a fee structure known as a “contingency fee arrangement.”.
In general, this percentage typically falls somewhere in-between five and fifty percent of the damages that a client may recover.
Lawyers and law firms may opt to bill their clients in a number of different ways. For instance, they can charge a flat rate for a specific matter or bill at a set hourly rate for work completed on a case. They may also use a fee structure known as a “contingency fee arrangement.”. A contingency lawyer, or a lawyer who works on a contingency fee ...
Personal injury lawsuits; Professional malpractice disputes (e.g., lawsuits filed against surgeons, doctors, lawyers, etc.); and. Various types of class action lawsuits. Therefore, if you wish to file a lawsuit that involves a civil law matter, but need financial assistance to cover your legal fees, then you may want to ask a prospective lawyer ...
On the other hand, if a lawsuit does go to trial and the lawyer wins, then the lawyer may take a higher cut of the client’s damages award because they did have to put in the extra work on the case (i.e., going to trial).
I was severely injured by someone acting recklessly on an ice rink last month and would like to sue the other skater and possibly the rink. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to pay an attorney up front. How do I find a lawyer who will agree to get paid out of the award and take a lawsuit on contingency?
In a contingency fee arrangement, the lawyer who represents you will get paid by taking a percentage of your award as a fee for services. If you lose, the attorney receives nothing. This situation works well when you have a winning lawsuit.
If a patent infringer isn't able to pay, it's not worth the time or cost associated with taking legal action to prove infringement.
The first factor to consider is the strength of the patent. Not all patents have the same weight and merit, so a lawyer will typically look at the prosecution history of similar cases through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Any similar issues through the USPTO can indicate that the specific patent you're looking at could pose a problem and become the subject of a litigation.
In our experience, you may find it difficult to hire IP lawyers on a contingency fee basis. Why? IP lawyers tend to be risk averse, and they want to be paid for their work. IP cases can be complicated and time-consuming.
It depends. If you lack the resources to pay hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars of legal fees to prosecute an IP case, then paying a contingency fee could be your only option. Most trial lawyers agree that there is no such thing as a “slam-dunk” IP case, which is why they want to be paid on an hourly basis.
At Carey, Danis & Lowe, there is no “typical client”. Certainly, if you are an individual or a small corporation who is unable to pay legal bills on an hourly basis, and our due diligence suggests that your case is meritorious, we would definitely consider representing you.
You may have heard of the term “patent troll”, but not really understood what a patent troll is. A patent troll is NOT someone who hires an IP lawyer on a contingent fee basis.