The short answer is that a scope infection case at our firm costs you nothing up front and nothing if we do not recover money for you. You do not pay an hourly rate. You do not pay a retainer. You do not pay for the records work, the experts, or the filing fees.
We are paid only if and when we recover money on your behalf. That is what a contingency fee arrangement means in plain English. This page walks through exactly how the structure works, what costs are separate from fees, and what happens if a case does not succeed.
The most common reason patients delay calling a lawyer about a serious scope infection is the assumption that they cannot afford one. For Olympus scope cases at our firm, that assumption is wrong. There is no scenario in which a patient pays out of pocket to bring a case.
That is what "No Fees Unless We Recover Money for You" actually means. The next sections explain how the structure works in detail, because patients deserve to understand the financial terms before they sign anything.
A contingency fee means the lawyer is paid a percentage of whatever the lawyer recovers for the client. If the lawyer recovers nothing, the lawyer is paid nothing. The fee is "contingent" on the result.
Three things follow from that structure:
Contingency fees are regulated by state bar rules and have been used in personal injury and product liability cases in the United States for decades. The specific percentage and the written agreement that goes with it are spelled out in the engagement letter, which we review with the patient before anything is signed.
The fee is the percentage we earn for handling the case. Under our contingency agreement, the fee is collected only if we recover money for you, and only out of the recovery itself.
You never pay the fee out of pocket. You never pay the fee at all if there is no recovery.
Costs are the actual expenses paid to outside parties to move the case forward: medical records fees, court filing fees, expert witness fees, deposition costs, and similar.
We advance all case costs out of our own funds while the case is in progress. At the end, those costs are recovered out of the settlement or verdict, before the fee is calculated. Under our standard agreement, if the case does not succeed, the costs are written off in most situations.
The distinction matters because it tells the patient what they are signing. The fee comes out of the recovery, percentage-based. The costs are tracked, itemized, and accounted for. At resolution you receive a written breakdown of every dollar that moved through the case, so you can see exactly how the gross recovery becomes your net.
A 10- to 20-minute phone conversation. You describe what happened. We ask the questions we need to evaluate the case. You owe nothing for this call and there is no commitment to retain us afterward.
If we accept the case and you decide to move forward, we send a written engagement agreement. It spells out the contingency percentage, the cost arrangement, and what each side is responsible for. We walk through it with you before you sign. Your signature is the only document you provide at this stage.
We collect medical records, identify the scope used, retain experts, and prepare the complaint. The patient is updated regularly but is not asked to pay for any of this work as it happens.
The case progresses through written discovery, depositions, mediation, and either settlement negotiations or trial. Whether the case settles or goes to verdict, the patient pays nothing out of pocket along the way. The fee and costs are deducted from the recovery at the end.
At every stage, you can call the firm and get a straight answer about where the case is, what is happening next, and what every dollar is going toward. The contingency structure does not mean less transparency. It means less financial pressure on the patient.
Plain-English answers to the financial questions patients ask before deciding whether to call.
No. The free case review costs nothing. If we accept the case, we sign a written agreement that says you owe us nothing up front and nothing during the case. We pay for medical records, expert witnesses, filing fees, and every other case cost out of our own pocket while the case is moving forward.
Under our standard contingency agreement, no. If we do not recover money for you, we do not collect a fee. The costs we advanced for records, experts, filing fees, and depositions are also written off in most situations. The only way our firm gets paid is if you get paid first. The full terms are spelled out in writing in the engagement agreement, which we walk through with you before you sign.
Contingency fees are usually a percentage of the recovery. The exact percentage depends on the stage at which the case is resolved and is governed by state bar rules and the written agreement we provide before you sign. We discuss the percentage on the free case review call so there is no surprise. The point is that our fee is tied to your recovery — we do better when you do better, and we collect nothing if you collect nothing.
No. The engagement agreement spells out exactly what we charge and how we charge it. Case costs (records, experts, filing fees, depositions) are tracked and itemized. At settlement or verdict, you receive a written breakdown of every dollar — the gross recovery, the case costs, the fee, and the net amount that goes to you. If you have a question about any line item at any point in the case, you can ask and you will get a straight answer.
Every case is different. Simple cases can resolve in well under a year. Cases that require depositions of corporate witnesses, multiple experts, and intensive discovery typically take longer — sometimes a year or more. The contingency arrangement is designed exactly so the patient is not under financial pressure to settle early or push for trial: we cover the costs while the case develops, and our fee comes out of the recovery only at the end.
Every factual claim on this page is supported by a verifiable public source. Click any source below to read the original.
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A free case review costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. If we take the case, you pay nothing up front. If we do not recover money on your behalf, you pay nothing at the end. No Fees Unless We Recover Money for You.
