Thinking about suing someone?
It’s a difficult call to make because there are a lot of factors to consider and a lot of unknowns. Much of deciding whether your lawsuit is worth pursuing revolves around financial issues. In fact, you’re probably wondering, “how much does a lawsuit cost?”
That’s what we’ll be answering in this quick article.
Contents
How Much Does a Lawsuit Cost?
Frustratingly, this is a difficult question to answer. It all depends on many different factors like your attorney fees, your state filing fees, and more. This said we’ll try and break down the costs below.
Attorney Fees
Hiring your attorney will be the most expensive part of your lawsuit. They don’t come cheap or at least the good ones don’t come cheap.
The average attorney fee is between $200 to $400 an hour. But this average doesn’t give the whole picture. The reality is, specialized attorneys will charge thousands of dollars an hour.
You’ll also need to factor in your location as a consideration. An attorney in Los Angeles will charge a lot more than an attorney in Jackson.
Shop around for your unique circumstances to get a better idea of what attorney fees might look like for you.
Filing Fees
After you find your attorney, you’ll need to file documents to bring your lawsuit to court. These are known as filing fees.
Like above, filing fees vary depending on location and the specifics of your case. In general, you’ll pay no more than $500 to file a lawsuit.
Service Fees
After you’ve filed your case, the documents need to be served to the person or company you’re suing. You can do this yourself, but in most instances, you won’t want to see as you’re suing them.
You’ll have to hire a professional process server to do this on your behalf. In general, this will cost you no more than around $100.
Discovery Costs
As part of your lawsuit, your attorney researches your case so they can present a compelling argument. To do this they’ll need to do things like talk to witnesses, experts and request information.
All these things cost money. Not only the attorney’s hourly rate but additional costs like the hourly rates of expert witnesses too. While documents for evidence such as medical records will only cost you a hundred dollars or so, expert witness fees can quickly hit thousands of dollars.
Who’s Liable to Pay in a Lawsuit?
You.
Your attorney will take care of most of the above for you, but you’ll get billed for it. They’re only acting on your behalf.
Many attorneys are happy to cover expenses while the case is ongoing. But you’ll still be liable to pay the costs once the lawsuit has concluded.
With all the costs above considered, the average cost for a lawsuit is around $10,000 minimum. It’s a lot of money and it’s worth considering whether your lawsuit is worth that risk before pursuing it.
If you do decide it’s worth it, but you don’t have the funds available you can consider seeking an accident lawsuit loan to cover the upfront costs.
More Legal Resources
So there you have it. The answer to, “how much does a lawsuit cost?” isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. There are a lot of upfront costs and you need to consider whether your lawsuit is worth the risk before you proceed.
For more legal resources, check out the legal category on our blog.
