Contingent Fee in the United States

Charges by an attorney for legal services that are dependent on a successful outcome in a civil case. Under the contingent or contingency fee approach, an attorney handles a case involving a money claim without prepayment for services by the client. If the action is successful, the attorney receives a percentage of the recovered money as the fee for services rendered. A Contingent Fee (Civil Process) of one-third of the recovered amount is typical. If, on the other hand, the client does not recover any money through the legal action, the attorney on Contingent Fee (Civil Process) will receive no fee. Use of a Contingent Fee (Civil Process) does not preclude an attorney from charging a fixed fee as well. It is unethical for attorneys to represent criminal defendants on a Contingent Fee (Civil Process) basis.

See Also

Pro Bono Publico (Civil Process), 242.

Analysis and Relevance

The Contingent Fee is a device whereby people may be able to avail themselves of legal representation. Litigation is expensive, and few plaintiffs could sustain such costs in advance. While the Contingent Fee approach is not possible for all kinds of legal problems, it is the method used in upwards of 70 percent of cases that assert money claims. Without the Contingent Fee system, many people would be unable to pursue relief in personal injury or negligence cases. At the same time, some are critical of the Contingent Fee approach. The principal concern is that the hope or expectation of large judgments prompts attorneys to litigate in cases that might be settled out of court. As a consequence, some states have limited the amount that can be gained in Contingent Fees for certain kinds of cases.

Notes and References

1. Definition of Contingent Fee from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

A charge for services to a client based on an agreement that the fee will be dependent on the lawyer’s successful handling of the case. Contingent fees are customary in personal injury cases, especially if the client is unable to pay for the lawyer’s time except out of the damages he might recover. The lawyer usually agrees to take a case for a client for a percentage of the amount recovered.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

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