Contingency fees in plain words: 35% before suit, 45% after, no fee if we lose, and our take home promise to you.
By Ibrahim J. Awad, The Karate Attorney • November 4, 2026
When I was twelve years old, my parents paid for my karate lessons at the start of every month. Whether I showed up sharp or showed up lazy, the check was already written. That is how most services work. You pay first and hope it was worth it.
A car accident lawyer in Georgia usually works the opposite way. If you are wondering about car accident lawyer cost in Georgia, here is the short answer: at my firm, you pay nothing up front, nothing out of pocket, and nothing at all unless we recover money for you.
Let me break down exactly how that works, with real numbers, because you deserve to see the whole picture before you sign anything.
A contingency fee means the lawyer's payment depends on the result. "Contingent" simply means "depending on." If we win your case, our fee is a percentage of what we recover. If we do not win, we are not paid.
There is no hourly billing. No retainer. No invoice in your mailbox every month. You will never get a bill from me for a phone call or an email.
This is the standard way injury cases are handled across Georgia, from Atlanta to Dalton. It exists so that a person with a broken wrist and a stack of medical bills has the same access to a lawyer as a corporation with a legal department.
My firm charges one of two rates, and which one applies depends on how far your case has to go.
35 percent if your case settles before we file a lawsuit. Most car accident cases resolve at this stage. We gather the evidence, send a demand to the insurance company, and negotiate.
45 percent if we have to file a lawsuit. Litigation is a different fight. It means depositions, court deadlines, expert witnesses, and sometimes a jury trial. The work and the risk go up significantly, so the fee does too.
I want to be direct about something: we do not discount our rates. Not for friends, not for family, not for anyone. That consistency is a form of fairness. Every client gets the same terms and the same effort.
Cases cost money to build. Medical records cost money to order. Police reports, accident reconstruction, expert reviews, filing fees, deposition transcripts: these are case expenses, separate from the attorney fee.
My firm advances those expenses for you. You do not pay them as they come up. If we win, they are repaid from the recovery.
And if we file a lawsuit and lose? You owe no attorney fee, and every case expense we advanced is waived. You will not owe us a single dollar.
I will be honest with you about one thing, because honesty is the whole point of this article. Your medical providers are a separate matter. If a case is lost, you would still technically owe your doctors and hospitals for the care they gave you. In practice, many providers write those balances off in that situation, but I will never pretend that obligation disappears by magic.
This is the part I am proudest of.
For every case that settles without filing a lawsuit, my firm makes a fee commitment: you will take home more money in your pocket than we take as our legal fee, after all case expenses and medical bills are paid.
Let me say that a different way. When the dust settles and the checks are written, your share will be larger than ours.
This is not a guarantee of any particular result or settlement amount. No honest lawyer can promise you that. It is a promise about how we handle the money at the end. Our Disbursement Coordinators negotiate your medical bills down so more of the recovery lands with you. That work is how we keep the promise.
Why make a promise like that? Because I have heard the stories of people who won their case and still walked away with almost nothing. That should never happen to someone who trusted us.
Whether you hire my firm or someone else, ask these questions before you sign:
A good lawyer will answer every one of those without hesitation. If someone gets vague when you ask about money, that tells you something.
Hiring a lawyer after a wreck costs you nothing to start. You pay only if we win, and for cases resolved before a lawsuit, you keep more than we do. That is the arrangement I would want for my own family.
If you have been hurt in a crash anywhere in Georgia, call or text my team at (706) 890-0000. The consultation is free, it is available 24/7, and we offer service in Spanish. We will walk you through the numbers on your specific situation, no pressure and no fine print.
A real person answers 24/7. No fee unless we win, and no pressure to sign.