What Does “No Win, No Fee” Mean?
A lawyer who charges a contingency fee agrees to represent their client in exchange for a percentage of any amount of money they win for their client in their case. So, if the case is lost, the lawyer would not collect any fee for their representation.
The client may have to pay the lawyer an amount to cover the expenses of litigation. There are costs to filing a lawsuit and no win, no fee lawyers sometimes require the client to cover some or all of the costs.
There are costs to litigation. For example, the following expenses may have to be paid whether a client wins their case or not:
- Court Filing Fee: The initial filing fee for filing a civil complaint in a Circuit Court in Illinois would range from $40 to $160. A complaint for employment discrimination or wrongful termination, for example, would be a civil complaint. In bigger counties such as Cook County, where Chicago is located, the filing fee can be as much as $379 to $388 for claims seeking damages of more than $2,500.
- Copying Costs: An individual can anticipate that their lawyer will have to copy a large number of documents in the course of preparing and trying a civil case. The copying fees can mount up and total hundreds of dollars.
- Preparation of Transcripts: If there are court hearings before the case goes to trial or depositions of witnesses, an individual’s lawyer may need to have transcripts prepared, and there would be a fee for this.
- Consulting Fees for Expert Witnesses: An employment case may require the input of an expert witness. This might be an economist who would analyze the economic effect of the victim’s firing on their future employment, if they were fired.
A statistician may be required to analyze data from a worker’s former workplace regarding the effect of the employer’s practices on different groups, e.g., members of different racial groups or people of different genders. These witnesses would have to be paid regardless of the outcome of the case.
No win, no fee employment lawyers may ask the client to pay these costs, or a portion of them, whether or not they prevail in the case. They might be reimbursed for their payment of the costs, if the case is won.
How Much Is the Fee?
An Illinois lawyer may charge their client a contingency fee of 30 to 40% of the award of money damages that they win for them. They may charge a different amount depending on the phase of the case in which it comes to a conclusion. For example, if the case settles soon after the complaint is filed, they may charge only 30%. If the case is settled only shortly before trial, they may charge 40%. If the case must be tried before a jury, the fee may rise to 50%.
The contingency fee agreement may provide that the costs of litigation would be reimbursed from the award of money damages, if there is one. The fees may have been paid by the lawyer or the client with the understanding that if the case is not won, the lawyer or client would not be reimbursed. If it is won, the lawyer or client would be reimbursed.
What Types of Employment Cases Use “No Win, No Fee” Fees?
Attorneys would not accept every case involving employment law on a contingency fee basis. Contingency fees are most appropriate for lawsuits in which the plaintiff seeks an award of money damages, possibly one that would be substantial, because this award is what yields the contingency fee.
Wrongful termination cases are frequently handled this way, especially when the firing violates such federal laws as the federal CRA, which, as noted above, prohibits termination of employment based on race, gender or other protected characteristics.
Complaints that allege violations of the ADEA or the ADA are also commonly taken on by a lawyer on a contingency fee basis. The potential for back pay and other damages makes these claims appropriate for no win, no fee representation.
What Is Employment Law in Illinois?
There are a number of laws in Illinois that regulate employers and workplaces in that state. For example, if an employer violates any of the following Illinois labor laws, they might find themselves named in a lawsuit by an aggrieved employee:
- Minimum Wage Law: The minimum wage in Illinois is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. In Illinois, the minimum wage is $15.
- Overtime Law: Illinois law requires employers to pay employees one and a half times their standard hourly rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. There are certain exceptions for some specific types of employees.
- Workplace Discrimination: Illinois law prohibits discrimination in the workplace against employees based on their race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, and other protected characteristics.
- Family and Medical Leave Act: Illinois law requires employers to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees who need to care for a family member with a serious health condition or who have a serious health issue of their own.
- Workers’ Compensation: Illinois law requires most employers to have workers’ compensation insurance that covers their employees if they are injured or become ill as a result of the conditions in their workplace.
- Child Labor Laws: Illinois law limits the number of hours for which minors under the age of 16 can work. It also limits the type of work they can do. In Illinois, employers must obtain work permits for minors.
In addition to Illinois laws, there are many significant federal laws that regulate employers and workplaces in Illinois and in all other states in the U.S. For example, an individual might have a claim under any of the following federal laws:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA): The CRA prohibits discrimination by employers against employees on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, or national origin. It applies to both private employers as well as local, state, and federal governments and government agencies.
- The Equal Pay Act (EPA): The EPA protects employers from gender discrimination in their pay. Employers must pay all employees equally for equal work.
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA): The ADEA protects employees who are 40 years and older from age discrimination. It addresses such conduct as an employer forcing an employee to retire because of their age.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): As with other anti-discrimination laws, this prohibits discrimination against a person based on their disability. It demands that employers provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.
- The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA): The IRCA imposes various requirements on employers in connection with employees’ immigration status. For instance, it addresses when and how an employer should verify that employees are eligible to work in the U.S.
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): The FMLA is a federal law that sets the rules regarding how and when employees may take unpaid medical leave. Among other provisions, it protects an employee from being fired while on approved medical leave.
Often, claims involving federal law, e.g., claims of discrimination, require the victim to first submit their claim to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC investigates and may take action itself. Or, it may issue a right-to-sue letter to the complainant, and they can then hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
What Do Employment Lawyers Do in Illinois?
An employment lawyer may handle any type of case that involves the federal or Illinois laws summarized above. For example, if a worker has been the victim of wage theft, they may be able to file a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL). The IDOL Fair Labor Standards Division of the IDOL investigates wage theft claims.
A person may believe that they have not been paid for all the hours they have worked or were not paid what they are legally owed, e.g., time and a half for overtime. Filing a claim for wage theft would involve collecting all relevant documents that support their claim, filing it, and then waiting for a result.
An individual may well want a lawyer’s help in organizing their documentation and dealing effectively with the bureaucracy. A lawyer may take a case such as this one with an hourly or flat fee arrangement.
Many other types of cases are possible. A person may have a written employment contract that their employer has breached by failing to pay them what was promised in the contract or firing them in violation of the contract’s terms. This is yet another type of claim that is possible.
An employer may have made a non-compete agreement (NCA) with an employee who may have left their employment and taken on other employment in violation of the NCA. The employer may seek a lawyer’s representation to sue their former employee.
What Are Other Types of Employment Lawyer Fee Arrangements in Illinois?
The other main type of legal fees charged by employment lawyers in Illinois would be the hourly fee and the flat fee. In an hourly fee arrangement, the lawyer charges a set amount, e.g., $350 for each hour they spend working on a client’s case. They keep careful track of their time and probably bill the client monthly for the total amount of time they worked in that month.
In a flat fee case, a lawyer tells the client at the beginning of the case the total fee that they would charge them for handling the case from beginning to end.
In some cases, it is possible that the law allows the plaintiff in the case to recover their attorney’s fees from the person they sue, the defendant in legal terminology, if they win the case. In these cases, the plaintiff’s attorney usually submits an hourly bill to the court for approval. When the court is satisfied that the bill is reasonable, they would order the defendant to pay the plaintiff’s attorney fee.
How Much Does an Employment Lawyer Cost in Illinois?
Of course, legal fees in Illinois depend on several different factors. One would be the type of fee the lawyer charges. In a case in which the lawyer takes a percentage of an award of money damages won for the client, they might make a significant sum of money, perhaps thousands of dollars. It would depend on the value of the award in the case and the percentage of the fee.
In a straightforward wage theft case in which the lawyer might charge an hourly fee, they might make a few hundred dollars. In a flat fee case, it depends on the nature of the case and the fee the lawyer agrees to accept, but it might be in the neighborhood of $1500 to $2500.
The employment lawyer cost would also depend on the market in which the lawyer practices. In big cities, such as Chicago, lawyers are likely to charge higher fees than they would in small towns and rural areas.
An individual should always ask the lawyer to fully explain the fee they plan to charge them in their case. They should have a written agreement with their lawyer in which the fee arrangement is clearly set out in writing. An individual should know how they are going to be charged and what their lawyer’s representation will cost per hour or in total, if it is a flat fee, or if it is a percentage, what that percentage is.
Do I Need To Hire an Illinois Employment Law Attorney?
An Illinois employment lawyer may take on a wide variety of cases of the type in which an employee claims that their employer violated Illinois or federal law. If you have not been paid what you are owed or have been wrongfully terminated, your lawyer will review the facts of your case and tell you whether you have grounds to file a complaint or not. They could then help you pursue your claim in the most effective way.
Or, you may be an employer whose employee has violated their employment contract or otherwise violated your employment policies. You, too, would need an Illinois employment lawyer to review the facts. They could tell you if you have grounds for lawsuit and how best to pursue it to get the remedy to which you are entitled.
