Most personal injury attorneys are hired on a contingency fee basis.  Even in large scale tractor-trailer accident cases, your attorney should provide legal services on a contingency fee scale.  This means that no attorneys fees are paid or collected unless the injury victim wins his or her case.  If the case is lost or determined not to have a legal basis by the lawyer or Missouri court, there are no fees paid. 

Missouri tractor-trailer accident cases are very expense to represent.  These types of cases require the use of several experts to prove both liability and damages.  Retained experts are paid in full up-front by your lawyer in order to work on your case.  For example, because most 18-wheeler accidents involve serious injury or death, experts in the fields of life-care planning and economics are brought in by a plaintiff's lawyer in order to explain the extreme losses sustained by the victim and family.  Most life-care planners are actual doctors, and they can spend upwards of 30 hours working on your case in order to present a future medical plan necessary to claim fair compensation. 

The contingency fee agreement is in place to guarantee each truck accident victim the means to retain a top-notch lawyer.  Many victims simply do not have the financial means to pay a large up-front retainer to an attorney.  With payment of attorneys fees contingent upon the outcome of the case, your lawyer is motivated to do his or her best to achieve a positive result.