When/Why Should You Hire an Attorney for a Car Accident?

Bottom-Line-Up-Front: From the overall settlement and about 1/3rd of it. The Long Answer: “ Access to Justice ” is a term I have heard in the legal industry that seems to be the code word for getting legal services to people who do not have enough money to pay a lawyer. One of the great luxuries I have in my profession is that in my line of work I can help even the poorest of people get exceptional legal work on their case. That is because when we are collecting “damages” in an action at law (i.e. money for a wrong done) if I am successful, then there is a pot of money from which a person can pay me for the work I did. In almost every case we take a 1/3rd contingent fee of the settlement. This is the industry standard and considered reasonable in almost all circumstances. The value of structuring the attorney fee payment in this way is that whether a person is rich or poor, they can get that access to justice when they have been wronged by someone, especially when the wrong is a car crash that is the fault of another person. Some of the value in structuring the attorney fee payment this way is that it gives the attorney and the client an alignment of incentives such that they will both work together to maximize the amount that ultimately gets to the client. If, in the alternative, you were to pay someone for this legal work by the hour, not only would injured people without several thousand dollars available to hire an attorney lose that access to justice , they also would have a misaligned incentive with their attorney. For example, if the attorney must bill by the hour to read through medical records, then someone with more general health issues not related to the crash would presumably have more prior medical records to read through and as a result would need to pay more money to their lawyer just to get the same legal result as a more healthy person. As another example, if we could get another $7,500 in a case but it would take another 10 hours of attorney work to get that result, on a contingent fee the client gets the benefit of only paying $2,500 to get another $5,000. But if that 10 hours of attorney work is billed by the hour at say $500/hr then the client only gets $2,500 and the attorney gets $5,000. By linking the value of the work done by the lawyer to the result achieved, it provides better incentives for both the client and the attorney to do good work and get a good result. Certainly, for other types of legal work payment by the hour makes more sense and may create a more proper alignment of incentives; but in cases where there are damages at the end of a lawsuit, I have not found a better way to align the incentives of the attorney and the client while also increasing access to justice and ensuring that meritorious cases are pursued. If you have been in a car crash and are worried that you will not be able to afford to hire an attorney, you will be pleasantly surprised when you give us a call at (541)HUNKING ( 541-486-5464 ) and see that we will do our best to get you access to justice at an affordable rate.

Auto Insurance companies are filled with smart people who need to evaluate risk and extrapolate that risk over a long time and a large geographic area. If they get it wrong, then their company may fail, so they have every incentive to get it right. While their risk may seem like it is based on understanding damage done, there is another layer that is not just damage done, but how will the law of that jurisdiction value and evaluate that damage in terms of dollars lost for that particular car crash.  For example, according to money.com in 2020 there are substantial differences in auto insurance cost to the consumer that vary from state to state . In 2024 the Nevada Division of Insurance cited rising cost of litigation as a major cost driver for insurance companies. As a result, to keep their businesses profitable, insurance companies are typically experts in how the laws of a particular state impact the value of a case. It is valuable, if you need to deal with a car crash, that you know a few of the major legal differences in Oregon Law.

So, you have been injured in a car crash, you called an attorney and got set up with an intake; but you want to prepare for this meeting to ensure that you are able to have a smooth and productive meeting. Good, I can help with this. We are going to go through a hypothetical example to make clear what information is of the type that you should prepare for your meeting.

The Oregon DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) makes a lot of their information and requirements public. With a few exceptions, they try to make a lot of information accessible to the public.

What are some special complications associated with motorcycle accidents? Bottom-Line-up-front: There are small variations with a motorcycle crash in Oregon as opposed to a car crash, but many aspects remain the same.

This is an interesting question in December of 2025 to answer because the rain and the flooding is ongoing and expected to cause more disruption in the following days and weeks. These weather conditions increase the risk of car accidents, and when a crash happens in bad weather it raises important questions about liability and the extent of any driver’s negligence. I can’t speak for Washington, but if we look at the issue with the lens of the impact of weather on Negligence in Oregon it actually shows the versatility of the Common Law system and how it can adapt itself to any factual circumstance. Let’s dive right into it:

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Dealing with the aftermath of an auto accident is painful and stressful enough without having to worry about paying for your medical care. People often assume that the other driver’s insurance will cover everything, only to find out that the limits fall far short of their actual expenses. That’s where understanding your options – and getting help from someone who knows the system – becomes essential.

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