Paying for Effective Legal Representation - No Fee Unless You Win

Most lawyers, including Jodi and me, accept just about every Social Security disability case using a “contingency fee” contract.  A contingency fee contract means that you pay no fee unless we recover past due benefits for you.

If we win, Social Security withholds 25% of your past due benefits up to $6,000 to pay my fee.  Under this contract, you get 75% of the past due benefit check and 100% of all future benefits.

Contingency fee contracts are rarely seen outside the United States. Courts in the United States approve contingency fee contracts because this type of arrangement allows a deserving claimant to retain the services of an experienced lawyer without having to come up with a fee retainer up front.  As you might imagine, most out of work Social Security claimants would not be able to obtain legal counsel under any fee contract except for a contingency fee contract.

Contingency fee contracts do not include reimbursement for certain case costs such as medical record retrieval fees or other charges from doctors.  Under State Bar rules these case expenses remain the client’s sole responsibility.  Fortunately, however, Georgia law allows lawyers to collect medical records used in disability cases at low or no cost.  As such our office rarely incurs any case costs.

Other Types of Fee Contracts in Social Security Cases

Social Security does allow disability lawyers to enter into other types of fee agreements - including a type of agreement where the lawyer keeps track of his time and submits a fee application at the end of the case.  In these alternative fee agreements, there need not be a $6,000 cap on fees.

Another type of fee contract that we sometimes use is called a “minimum fee” contract.  This type of fee agreement is most often used when there is a workers’ compensation case involved.  Since workers’ compensation benefits offset Social Security benefits, there are often no past due benefits that could support a pure contingency.

Simple Fee Contract Used Most Often
by Ginsberg Law Offices

Ginsberg Law Offices uses the simplified 25% fee with a $6,000 cap in almost every case.  We use a written fee contract in every case and we encourage our clients to read our fee contract carefully and to ask questions.

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