{"id":712,"date":"2017-05-04T19:24:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T19:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiolinjurylaw.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T22:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:53:45","slug":"the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"The Basics of Contingency Fee Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A lawsuit is the best method an injured person has of recovering compensation for damages after an accident caused by another party\u2019s negligence. However, legal representation generally isn\u2019t cheap, and many plaintiffs cannot afford legal representation out of pocket. For this reason, many <a href=\"\/tampa-personal-injury-lawyer\/\">personal injury attorneys<\/a> offer billing based on contingency agreements.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/#What_Is_a_Contingency_Agreement\" >What Is a Contingency Agreement?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/#Things_to_Remember_About_Contingency_Fee_Agreements\" >Things to Remember About Contingency Fee Agreements<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_a_Contingency_Agreement\"><\/span>What Is a Contingency Agreement?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At a basic level, a contingency agreement is an \u201cif-then\u201d agreement; if the plaintiff wins his or her case, then he or she will pay legal fees to the attorney. This means the client has very little or no upfront expenses to worry about and can quickly start building a lawsuit. This may not sound advantageous for lawyers, but the reality is that contingency agreements allow them to be more scrupulous concerning the cases they take.<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys who operate on contingency- fee billing typically only accept cases they are sure they can win. If they waste time and resources on cases with little chances of winning, the attorneys don\u2019t make any money due to their contingency agreements. An attorney will generally assess the risk associated with taking a case, and some attorneys may agree to take riskier cases with a higher contingency fee. For example, a case that appears open and shut to the attorney will likely take a short time to reach a conclusion with minimal chance of surprises, so the attorney\u2019s contingency fee may only be 20% of the case award. For a riskier case that will be more time-consuming, the attorney may ask for 30% or more.<\/p>\n<p>This type of billing structure offers a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nolo.com\/legal-encyclopedia\/what-is-a-contingency-fee.html\">mutually agreeable solution<\/a> to the problems of lawyers avoiding frivolous lawsuits and plaintiffs securing legal representation they otherwise couldn\u2019t afford. Ideally, a contingency agreement should compel an attorney to provide the best possible representation for a client, as a successful case ensures the attorney gets paid. If the client loses, the attorney doesn\u2019t get anything.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Things_to_Remember_About_Contingency_Fee_Agreements\"><\/span>Things to Remember About Contingency Fee Agreements<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s important for potential clients to realize the nuances of contingency agreements. The average attorney will simply agree to accept a flat percentage of the case award or settlement, but the client will still need to pay for all of the litigation costs after he or she wins the case. As soon as the client agrees to representation, the attorney will handle all applicable fees and expenses until the case reaches a conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>During the case, the attorney will bill for litigation costs including court filing fees, deposition payments, discovery costs, hiring expert witnesses, copying fees, and any other expenses related to handling the lawsuit. The attorney will also likely bill the client per hour or day for his or her services or a flat percentage of the case award. Once the client wins the case and receives his or her award, the attorney bills the client and subtracts his or her fees and expenses from the case award. For example, in a $500,000 case, an attorney may bill $10,000 in expenses and a 20% contingency fee for time spent handling the case. 20% of $490,000 is $98,000 for the attorney, leaving the client with a net total of $392,000.<\/p>\n<p>If you or a loved one will need legal representation for any type of personal injury case in the near future, it\u2019s crucial to understand a potential lawyer\u2019s billing structure. Carefully review a contingency agreement to look for any additional fees or surcharges and be sure to ask questions of the attorney concerning how they bill their time. If your legal fees and litigation costs exceed your case award, you could still be out-of-pocket for legal fees once your case is over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lawsuit is the best method an injured person has of recovering compensation for damages after an accident caused by another party\u2019s negligence. However, legal representation generally isn\u2019t cheap, and many plaintiffs cannot afford legal representation out of pocket. For this reason, many personal injury attorneys offer billing based on contingency agreements. What Is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Basics of Contingency Fee Agreements<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Contingency fee basics explained learn how personal injury lawyers get paid only if you win, with no upfront costs, and what clients should know before signing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Basics of Contingency Fee Agreements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contingency fee basics explained learn how personal injury lawyers get paid only if you win, with no upfront costs, and what clients should know before signing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fiolinjurylaw.com\/en\/blog\/the-basics-of-contingency-fee-agreements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fiol &amp; 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