Follow the Money: The Plaintiff's Cut
The Plaintiff’s share of any amount derived from a personal injury case equals the amount of money left over after the lawyer subtracts their amount. That is correct mathematically - the lawyer calculates their share first.
The Plaintiff’s share of the settlement or judgment award can be further lessened primarily by two
expenses:
(A) As a result of the injury, the Plaintiff could still owe medical bills or other expenses. Usually
figured into the final monetary award is compensation for any of those bills (think in terms of expenses that the Plaintiff would not
have incurred but for the injury). It will be the Plaintiff’s responsibility (unless there is some other arrangement) to
pay those expenses, therefore, that amount should be considered subtracted from the Plaintiff’s take.
(B) If the Plaintiff received a payment from an advance company, then that amount plus any interest
and fees will need to be paid back at this time. (Under most advance payment agreements, the Client never sees this
money because it is the lawyer that directly pays the advance company and that amount is subtracted from the Plaintiff’s
share similar to a litigation expense.) At this point the Client needs to remember that they have already gotten the principal of this
money upfront and now must pay it back out of the proceeds of the case. (The Client may have to be reminded of this
fact.)
But here is an even more important fact: If the Client had lost their case, without the advance payment, they would have received no money at all, and, just like the lawyer, it was the advance company that took the risk, not the Client.