Different attorneys have varying fee structures for defamation claims.
Depending on your situation, your lawyer may charge you an hourly fee or may charge on a contingent fee basis. You may also be obligated to pay a retainer up front, which involves putting some money into a special account to show you have the cash to fund your case.
Here are three different possible fee structures.
Flat Fee
Attorneys sometimes charge a flat fee, or a set rate, for services performed. Usually, this type of arrangement is common when your lawyer does a limited amount of clearly defined work.
Because defamation lawsuits come with many uncertainties, lawyers usually will not use this fee structure if you are suing for defamation. However, you may be able to pay on a flat fee basis if you want your attorney to do a simple task for you to help you address defamatory statements.
For example, a lawyer might charge a flat fee to send a cease and desist order to someone writing fraudulent bad reviews about your business. Or, a lawyer may charge a flat fee to help you get your information removed from a cheater-shaming website.
Contingency Fee
Contingency fees are common in certain types of personal injury cases such as car accident claims.
When your lawyer charges on a contingency fee basis, you pay legal fees only if you win your case. This is an ideal option for you, since you take on much less risk of getting stuck with large defamation lawsuit costs.
Not all lawyers take defamation claims on a contingency fee basis. Whether an attorney is willing to do so or not will depend on many factors including the firm’s policy as well as the nature of your case.
If your attorney does charge on a contingency fee basis, you can expect to pay anywhere from 25% and 40% of the amount you recover in compensation for the defamation. If your case is resolved quickly through an out of court settlement, your fees will usually be on the lower end of this scale. If your case goes through a full trial or even an appeal, you can expect to pay a larger percentage.
Hourly Fee
Many attorneys charge hourly in defamation cases because they do not know up front how long the claim will take to be resolved and because there is so much uncertainty as to whether you can win a defamation claim or not.
Hourly fees can vary substantially based on the experience of your attorneys as well as your geographic location. Often, you can expect to pay around $250 to $350 per hour for an attorney’s services. However, your fees could be much higher or much lower based on where you live and your attorney’s credentials and skill level.
Retainer Agreements
If your attorney charges hourly, you will likely be asked to pay a retainer. This could mean paying around $7,000 to $10,000 up front.
This is money your attorney can draw on to collect payment as they perform work on your case.
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