Personal injury settlement calculator. From the gross settlement to the client's net.

What this calculator does

It takes a personal injury settlement from the gross amount to the client's net, in the order a settlement statement usually follows: the attorney's fee, then case costs, then medical liens after any reductions, then other liens. Change any figure and the net updates. Nothing you type leaves the page.

It does not value a case. It doesn't estimate pain and suffering or apply a multiplier. It starts from a settlement amount you already have, or one you're testing against a demand, and shows what the client would take home.

How it computes

1. Attorney's fee: the fee percentage times the gross settlement.
2. Case costs: subtracted in full. Filing fees, records charges, expert fees and the like.
3. Medical liens and bills: the total, less the reduction negotiated across them.
4. Other liens: Medi-Cal, Medicare, ERISA plans, child support and similar claims, subtracted as entered.
5. Net to the client: the gross less all of the above.

If the fee, costs and liens come to more than the settlement, the calculator says so instead of showing a negative net. That's usually the point where a firm goes back to lienholders for larger reductions, or considers a fee concession.

A worked example

The $5,400 taken off the medical liens goes entirely to the client. That's why lien work is worth the time: every dollar off a lien is a dollar added to the client's net, and the fee doesn't change.

Fee on the gross, or after costs

This calculator takes the fee on the gross settlement, a common arrangement. Some fee agreements take it after costs are repaid. In the example above, a 33.33% fee after costs would be $32,530.08 instead of $33,330, and the client would net about $800 more. California requires a contingency fee agreement to state how costs affect the fee and the client's recovery (Business and Professions Code section 6147), so the agreement decides which method applies.

When the law caps or approves the fee

• Medical malpractice. Business and Professions Code section 6146 caps the fee at 25% of the amount recovered when the case settles before a complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, and 33% after. "Recovered" there means the net after costs, so in these cases the fee comes after costs.
• Minors and persons with a disability. The court approving the compromise also approves the attorney's fees and costs paid from it (Probate Code section 3601). See minor's compromise.
• Federal Tort Claims Act. Fees are capped at 20% of an administrative settlement and 25% of a judgment or a settlement after suit is filed (28 U.S.C. section 2678).

Liens it leaves to you

The calculator subtracts liens as you enter them. Each kind has its own rules for how much is owed:

• A California hospital lien (Civil Code section 3045.1) can be satisfied from no more than 50% of the money due under the judgment or settlement after prior liens are paid (section 3045.4). See hospital lien.
• Medicare reduces its recovery by its share of the fees and costs. The Medicare procurement cost calculator works that out. See Medicare conditional payment.
• Medi-Cal and ERISA plan claims follow their own rules. See Medi-Cal lien and ERISA lien.

Our guide to medical lien reductions in California covers how firms negotiate them, and the glossary explains the settlement statement and the contingency fee.

What it leaves out

• Case value, policy limits and comparative fault. See comparative negligence and the policy limits demand letter guide.
• Taxes, structured settlements and special needs trusts.
• Trust accounting. The calculator shows the statement, not the trust ledger.

This is general information, not legal advice. Follow your fee agreement and the rules that apply to the case.

In PlaintiffStack

The Finances app keeps costs and liens on each case as they come in, with asserted and negotiated amounts, and the settlement statement computes the fee, costs, liens and net to the client from them. It doesn't do trust accounting. See the personal injury practice page and pricing.