Fees & Expenses

FEES

HEFFERON & HEFFERON. P.A. does not charge any fee for an initial consultation. However, we reserve the right to conduct the initial consultation by telephone. If after the initial consultation we agree to consult further in person, or conduct an investigation, there will be no fee for any further consultation and investigation, unless otherwise agreed to by the client.

HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. accepts personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that if we agree to accept a case, we agree to accept as our legal fee a certain percentage of any amounts we actually recover on the client's behalf. If we do not recover anything of value for our client, we do not charge any fee. If you get nothing, we get nothing.

HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. usually charges as its fee one-third (33 1/3%) of the total present value of any settlement or verdict we obtain for a client. However, we reserve the right to negotiate a different percentage of recovery as our fee in cases involving a high degree of risk or unusual legal complexity. Our fee is not owed or paid until any recovered funds have actually cleared the payer bank.

HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. also deals in Business & Real Estate disputes. In these matters, our fee structures and arrangements are flexible and fair. We work with a client to provide excellent legal services at a cost that is affordable to the small business person.

HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. takes great pride in it relationships with its clients. Our clients and our former clients are one of our best business assets and we recognize your importance to our reputation in the community. Therefore, we treat the client in the same manner as we would like the client to treat us - fairly. Even where our fee arrangement allows it, we have never taken a fee greater than a client's net recovery in personal injury cases.

EXPENSES

Incurring expenses to resolve personal injury claims is unavoidable. Even small claims require expenditures for the costs of obtaining medical records, court filing fees, and similar costs. Expenses incurred to successfully resolve large, complex cases can easily amount to tens of thousands of dollars. In our experience, most injured clients are not in the financial position to pay the costs and expenses necessary to meet the insurance company on equal ground. In most cases, HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. agrees to "front" the expenses of litigation, subject to reimbursement upon settlement or judgment.

HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. has the resources, and the resolve to commit those resources to the successful resolution of your claim. We will advance court costs, investigation costs, cost of obtaining and presenting evidence, and other expenses related to litigation of a personal injury claim, in accordance with the Revised Rules of Professional Conduct. To the extent that we advance costs and expenses on the client's behalf, we expect to reimbursed, and upon resolution of the claim, these advanced costs, as well as the attorney's fee, will be deducted from the client's total recovery.

Unlike many law firms, HEFFERON & HEFFERON, P.A. has no hidden expenses. We do not expect or demand reimbursement for in-office copying costs, mailing costs, long-distance telephone costs, vehicle depreciation or expenses related to highway travel, or other general costs of overhead.

(Disclaimer - Pursuant to the North Carolina Revised Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.8(3)(b), which prohibits a lawyer from acquiring a financial interest in a claim by providing financial assistance to a client, the client shall remain ultimately liable for all advanced costs and expenses.)