Contingency Fees

What you need to know.

Before you arrange a contingent fee agreement with a attorney, you should know your rights as a client:

There is no legal requirement that a attorney charge a client a set fee or a percentage of money recovered in a case. You, the client, have the right to talk with your lawyer about the proposed fee and to bargain about the rate or percentage as in any other contract. If you do not reach an agreement with one attorney you may talk with other attorneys.

Any contingent fee contract must be in writing and you have three (3) business days to reconsider the contract.

You may cancel the contract without any reason if you notify your lawyer in writing within three (3) business days of signing the contract.

If you withdraw from the contract within the first three (3) business days, you do not owe the attorney a fee although you may be responsible for the attorney’s actual costs during that time.

If your attorney begins work on your case, your attorney may not withdraw from the case without giving you notice, delivering necessary papers to you, and allowing you time to hire another attorney.

Generally, your attorney must obtain court approval before withdrawing from a case.

If you discharge your attorney without good cause after the three-day period, you may have to pay for work the attorney has done.

Before hiring an attorney, you have the right to know about the attorney’s education, training, and experience.

If you ask, the attorney should tell you specifically about his or her actual experience dealing with cases similar to yours. If you ask, the attorney should provide information about special training or knowledge and give you this information in writing if you request it.

Before signing a contingent fee contract with you, an attorney must advise you whether he or she intends to handle your case alone or whether other lawyers will be helping with the case. If your attorney intends to refer the case to another attorney, he or she should tell you what kind of fee sharing arrangement will be made with the other attorney. If attorneys from different law firms will represent you, at least one attorney from each firm must sign the contingent fee contract.

If your lawyer intends to refer your case to another lawyer or counsel with other lawyers, your lawyer should tell you about that at the beginning. If your lawyer takes the case and later decides to refer it to another lawyer or to associate with other lawyers, you should sign a new contract which includes the new lawyers. You, the client, also have the right to consult with each lawyer working on your case and each lawyer is legally responsible to represent your interests and is legally responsible for the acts of the other lawyers involved in the case.

You, the client, have the right to know in advance how you will need to pay the expenses and the legal fees at the end of the case. If you pay a deposit in advance for costs, you may ask reasonable questions about how the money will be or has been spent and how much of it remains unspent. Your lawyer should give a reasonable estimate about future necessary costs. If your lawyer agrees to lend or advance you money to prepare or research the case, you have the right to know periodically how much money your lawyer has spent on your behalf. You also have the right to decide, after consulting with your lawyer, how much money is to be spent to prepare a case. If you pay the expenses, you have the right to decide how much to spend. Your lawyer should also inform you whether the fee will be based on the gross amount recovered or on the amount recovered minus the costs.

You, the client, have the right to be told by your lawyer about possible adverse consequences if you lose the case. Those adverse consequences might include money which you might have to pay to your lawyer for costs and liability you might have for attorney’s fees, costs and expenses to the other side.

You, the client, have the right to receive and approve a closing statement at the end of the case before you pay any money. The statement must list all of the financial details of the entire case, including the amount recovered, all expenses, and a precise statement of your lawyer’s fee. Until you approve the closing statement, your lawyer cannot pay any money to anyone, including you, without an appropriate order of the court. You also have the right to have every lawyer or law firm working on your case sign this closing statement.

You, the client, have the right to ask your lawyer at reasonable intervals how the case is progressing and to have these questions answered to the best of your lawyer’s ability.

You, the client, have the right to make the final decision regarding settlement of a case. Your lawyer must notify you of all offers of settlement before and after the trial. Offers during the trial must be immediately communicated and you should consult with your lawyer regarding whether to accept a settlement. However, you must make the final decision to accept or reject a settlement.

If at any time, you, the client, believe that your lawyer has charged an excessive or illegal fee, you, the client, have the right to report the matter to The Florida Bar, the agency that oversees the practice and behavior of all lawyers in Florida.