Your legal contract or fee agreement should clearly outline the services your lawyer will perform, the legal fees and other costs you’ll be responsible for, and any other issues that are important to you. A lawyer’s contract or fee agreement protects his interests and limits his liability towards you. It doesn’t protect you in the same way. While you can use it as a starting point in your discussions with a lawyer, most contract terms should be negotiable to some degree.

The contingency percentages printed in the contract can be altered. With a potentially large case, you might want your contract to outline different fee percentages for different outcomes. Since lawyers generally take a larger ‘cut’ when a case goes to appeal, you’ll want to add to your contract that this higher percentage will only be paid on the money in dispute, not your whole award.

Your lawyer’s hourly rate and daily court rate should be noted in the contract - as should the terms on which he’ll be paid if you decide to change lawyers. Any legal services connected to your claim that aren’t  covered by your contingency fee, and how you’ll be billed for these services, should be clearly noted in the contract as well.

Other issues to negotiate with your lawyer and add to your legal contract:

• Accident-related (or legal) expenses not reimbursed to you will be deducted from your settlement before your lawyer calculates his fee.
• A cap or ceiling (of an amount noted in the contract) will be placed on the expenses you’re responsible for paying if your claim is denied or you recover less money than your lawyer spends supporting your case.
• No contingency fee - or a reduced percentage - will be paid on “special damages” that ICBC should have covered as a no-fault accident benefit.
• You won’t have to pay your lawyer’s bill until your case settles - even if you hire a new lawyer.

Changes made to your contract have to be initialed by both you and the lawyer to be valid. If your lawyer doesn’t use a pre-printed contract or fee agreement, he’ll usually compose a document on his firm letterhead that outlines the terms you’ve discussed and agreed on.