All About Contingency Fees 

Contents of this Document:

Foreword

Introduction

What is a Contingency Fee?

Contingency Fees Do Not Increase Litigation

Would Fees be More Reasonable to Plaintiffs Under an Hourly Agreement?

Contingency Fees are Regulated

Contingency Fees Do Not Encourage Frivolous Lawsuits

Women, The Elderly, The Middle Class, and the Contingency Fee

Foreword

Contingent fee practice has been an essential ingredient in our justice system for more than 100 years. It permits every American, regardless of wealth or social standing, the opportunity to pursue a valid claim against even the most powerful corporation or individual. In large measure, it has made our justice system the envy of the world. It breathes life into the democratic ideals that no one is above the law and everyone must be accountable for his or her behavior.

Ironically, those who object most strenuously to contingent fee practice, and now call for regulation or limits, seldom have had occasion to represent the injured who need such a fee agreement. Instead, the contingent fee critics typically are the defendants called on to account for their negligence or recklessness by injured consumers.

It's no secret that businesses and individuals who want to avoid accountability for their negligent and reckless acts are pushing for special protections in state legislatures and Congress. But wrongdoers and their apologists have initiated a less obvious line of attack on the American consumer, an attack that levels its sights not on consumers but an easier target: the lawyers who represent them.

This insidious assault is only on America's consumer lawyers. The only party whose attorney's fees would be limited is the consumer, not the wrongdoer! Whether the wrongdoer seeks to limit liability or to interfere with fee agreements, its goal remains the same: to deny access to justice to the tens of thousands of Americans who are injured each year due to another's wrongful acts.

Here we separate fact from fiction on contingent fee practice and lays to rest the misperceptions created by the opponents of this great equalizer in our justice system.

Next: Introduction