A contingency fee is a legal fee that is contingent upon the outcome of the case. In most tort claims a personal injury lawyer represents a plaintiff on a contingency fee. That contingent fee, in most instances, is one-third of the gross recovery. If the gross recovery is $100,000.00, then the attorneys fees is one-third of that. Most state bars require that the personal injury lawyer disclose to plaintiffs they may be responsible for the cost of litigation. Those costs are such things as the cost of filing suit and the cost of experts. There may be other costs.
If there is no recovery in the case, then there is no attorneys fees due. However the attorney may be required under the rules of the State Bar to hold the plaintiff responsible for costs.
The logic of this system of fees is that it allows people to hire an attorney. Many of these people could not otherwise afford counsel. That means that many claims with merit would not be pursued.
What Is A Contingency Fee?Learn More
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In addition for more information on contingency fee see the pages on Wikipedia.
