The cost of litigation in America is climbing by around nine percent every year. With costs escalating so fast, it is no surprise that most plaintiffs underestimate the total cost of bringing their suit to court.
This misprediction of costs can have sweeping and serious consequences for individuals bringing lawsuits against other persons, businesses, or legal entities. At best, it can lead to stress and delays. At worst, it can cost them their case and leave them without the just compensation they need and deserve.
Keep reading now to learn what you need to factor into a lawsuit loan calculator to gauge how much your lawsuit will really cost.
Factors That Influence Lawsuit Cost
The first step to estimating your lawsuit costs is understanding the types of expenses that go into making a lawsuit happen. Here are the largest and most important categories of costs you can expect to incur.
- Court filing fees
- Service fees
- Attorney fees
- Discovery fees
- Witness fees
- Administrative fees
- Miscellaneous fees
Some of these fees will be hefty. Others will be small but frequent. Together, they can add up faster than plaintiffs anticipate.
Pre-Court Fees
The first fees you can expect to pay are pre-court fees. These include:
- Retainers that allow attorneys to begin working on your case
- Court filing fees that make your case official and get the process started
- Service fees, in which notice of the lawsuit is delivered to the defendant in a legal and binding manner
- Discovery fees
- Administrative fees
Discovery fees are expenses related to information gathering. They can come in many forms.
For example, your attorney may need to send certified letters to various parties requesting relevant documents. They may need to travel to interview witnesses.
Administrative costs tend to include things like copies that need to be made for your case. All of these costs will begin racking up right away.
Trial Fees
When your case moves to trial, some of the pre-trial fees will carry forward. These include attorney fees and administrative fees, which will continue to accrue as your lawyer works on your case. New fees will also kick in.
Most notably, you should expect to see witness fees and miscellaneous fees.
When an expert witness testifies on your behalf, they must be paid for their time. Depending on the expert, the length of their testimony, and other factors, this can be very expensive.
Miscellaneous fees that your lawyer or witnesses incur related to the trial will also be passed along to you. These can vary by jurisdiction and type of case and are difficult to estimate with accuracy in advance.
When these fees will be due is also variable, which can make keeping a handle on your costs and cash flow challenging. This is doubly true for plaintiffs dealing with personal injuries or financial instability as the result of an accident, unlawful termination, or other suable causes.
Average Costs and the Value of a Lawsuit Loan Calculator
Once you know what kinds of costs you’ll face, it’s time to look at some hard numbers.
Court filing fees can be less than $100 but, in many parts of the nation, they can hit $500 per filing. New fees must be paid every time you adjust your filing or file an appeal.
Serving the defendant with notice of the lawsuit must be done by a qualified and legally appropriate third-party. On average, this costs between $50 and $100.
Discovery costs can run between $200 and $500 per lay or non-expert witness. Expert witnesses can cost between $250 and $1,000 per hour. It is common for plaintiffs to end up paying each expert witness between $5,000 and $10,000 in total.
Administrative and miscellaneous costs can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the type, length, and complexity of the case. They are almost impossible to estimate in any detail ahead of time.
Attorney Fees
Attorneys may work on a set hourly fee, a contingency fee, or a combination of the two. Importantly, regardless of how they charge you must pay them throughout the course of the pre-trial period and the trial to retain their services. You will also incur the associated court and administrative fees along the way.
If you win your case, the defendant may be ordered by the court to pay your costs. This can include:
- Witness fees
- Discovery fees
- Administrative and miscellaneous costs
- Court filing fees
It will not include your attorney fees, however. You remain responsible for paying your lawyer. As such, your attorney fees are a key consideration when calculating your total lawsuit cost.
Attorney costs vary by:
- Professional experience
- Geographic area
- The complexity of the case
- How the firm charges
Total Costs
Simple, straight-forward lawsuits that require little expert testimony can run plaintiffs around $10,000 all told. More complicated or hotly contested cases can easily cost up to $80,000 or more.
Plaintiffs can expect higher costs if they:
- Live in regions of the country with high costs of living
- Are suing a company or other entity with a strong legal team or large budget
- Have a complex or specialized case
The best way to calculate the potential cost of a given lawsuit is to speak to your lawyer about it directly. Your attorney can provide you with examples of similar cases they have worked on in your area and what the costs of these cases ended up being.
Lawsuit Loans
Some plaintiffs hesitate to begin a lawsuit because they don’t have the cash on hand to pay for all the costs they will incur before they can hope for a payout. This is especially true in complex, potentially expensive cases.
A pre settlement funding loan can provide plaintiffs with the cash advance they need to make their cases possible. A pre settlement funding company can help plaintiffs:
- Estimate the costs of their cases
- Estimate the likely payouts on their cases
- Work out a lawsuit loan appropriate to their situation
Once pending lawsuit loans do not take long to go through. This makes them ideal for plaintiffs at any stage of their lawsuit.
Learn More
If you are considering a lawsuit or in the middle of one, we can help. Our lawsuit loan calculator experts can assist you in determining the real costs and payouts you can expect so that you can make the best possible decisions in your case. Contact us now for free assistance.
