contingency fee

American  

[kuhn-tin-juhn-see fee] / kənˈtɪn dʒən si ˌfi /

noun

contingency fees plural

1. a fee paid to a lawyer only if the case is won or settled favorably, calculated as a percentage of the damages or other compensation awarded to the client.

---

contingency fee British  

noun

1. a lawyer's fee that only becomes payable if the case is successful

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• contingency fees
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contingency fee

If a lawyer is going to charge a contingency fee, the client should be told, in plain English, what the lawyer knows about the underlying claim value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

The initiative presents itself as targeting problematic practices within the personal injury legal system, with language attacking contingency fee arrangements that the company characterizes as self-dealing and designed to artificially inflate medical claims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026

In that case, Cohen had requested $13,578 based on his contingency fee arrangement.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2023

Past examples of contingency fee arrangements show how lucrative they can be if a case is successful.

From Reuters ● Apr. 20, 2023

Lawyers with expertise in disasters have also been courting storm victims, promising to help them maximize their claims — in exchange for a contingency fee, typically 28 percent.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2015