Legal Question. Thank You.

You cannot bracket this until you get into it. A retainer of a minimum amount of 7500.-10k, discovery costs 2500-5k attorneys fees vary depending on the hourly rate. Fees will increase the closer to trial you get. This is all a guess and others will vary in ranges. This is a common question recently about the FL leash law. Strange.

No one can answer that question without knowing many more details such as, but not limited to: (1) How many depositions would it require? (2) How complex are the facts? (3) How much physical evidence is involved? (4) How severe are the injuries? (5) Can the case be negotiated pre-suit mediation or through mediation during litigation? (6) How many expert witnesses must the client hire? (7) What types of expert witnesses does the client require (some are more expensive than others)? (8) What defenses are possible (Florida is a pure comparative negligence state even for most dog bite cases? (9) How many motions would I anticipate filing? (10) How many days of trial would I expect? You need to get a free consultation with a Florida personal injury attorney. Even then, any estimate would be that: An estimate, and a very rough one at that. There is no "typical" case or standard line of defense.

It is hard to predict. Attorneys qualified to perform defense work such as this are likely to charge $250 to $350 per hour (I would charge $350) and, depending on the course of the plaintiff's litigation conduct and expectations, the case could easily head past the $10,000 mark. Good luck.

The one thing I have learned in over 20 years of litigation, there is no one answer to a question like this one.

Attorney fees are based on several factors such as the degree of difficulty, amount of time, experience of the attorney, research, investigation, preparation of legal documents and communications and the filing fees and courts costs. Discuss the possible costs at the first meeting with the attorney. The attorney should discuss the time frame, possible issues that may arise and potential of settlement. Each case is different and impossible to predict what will be charged. The link below may help you ask the right questions.

There is no average, but you can check lawyer fees on their avvo profile pages.

I agree with everyone else that it is really not possible to give a "tight" range as you put it but I would say $$7,500 minimum and up to $20,000 would not be unusual for attorney fees and cost. Keep in mind, depending on alot of factors it could be much more.

In my professional opinion, the estimate of fees if settled prior to any court should be modest; no more than 10 to 20 hours should be spent in determining whether the case could or could not be settled with the opposing party. If suit is filed and litigation proceeds, the estimate of fees would greatly increase. Litigation including trial could take anywhere from 40 to 100 hours or more depending upon the extent of the opposing parties' efforts. Hourly fees greatly vary between lawyers ranging from 100 to more than 300 per hour. Your question is a very good one and very difficult to address on this type of website. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. MB

In addition to the other answers, I would add that the severity of the injury would be a major factor in determining the expected defense costs -- It would be silly not to settle a bite on the butt, with no complications or visible scarring for $5-10K but spend $30K defending it. If, like MA, FL is basically strict liability (which it sounds like), then the only point of contention is going to be the causation and extent of damages. Of course, the victim's lawyer won't necessarily be reasonable but even he/she, on a contingent fee basis is not going to want to spend big money on experts, depositions, trial, etc. to earn 1/3 or so of $7500. The converse is also true: if the injuries are serious and the special damages high and/or some of the damages, such as pain and suffering and mental (PTSD, anybody?) are subjective, might make serious litigation worth it for both parties. On the plaintiff's side, I won a verdict in a defendant-friendly venue for about $200K in today's dollars; settled another one for $6K, and defended one for less than $4K.