contingent fee

American  

noun

1. a fee paid to a lawyer conducting a suit, especially a suit for damages, in the event that the suit is successful and generally based on a percentage of the sum recovered.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contingent fee

Arbitration can keep plaintiffs from banding together into a class action, and in that way attracting a lawyer to take on their case for a large enough contingent fee.

From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026

Attorney fees can be a trap. Whether you pay your attorney hourly or on a contingent fee basis, factor in the cost of your attorney when you’re addressing taxes.

From Forbes ● Jul. 6, 2015

Now of course there are valid reasons for a contingent fee arrangement and a 33% award if and when there is an award.

From Forbes ● Jun. 4, 2014

Finally the beggar laid the matter before an obese limb o' the Law, Jaggers, of the firm of Jaggers & Jaggers, who took the case on a contingent fee.

From Love, Life & Work Being a Book of Opinions Reasonably Good-Natured Concerning How to Attain the Highest Happiness for One's Self with the Least Possible Harm to Others by Hubbard, Elbert

Therefore, as a lawyer, I should very much hesitate to take on a contingent fee the suit of one of these various victims against a promoting orchard corporation.

From Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Third Annual Meeting Lancaster, Pennsylvania, December 18 and 19, 1912 by Northern Nut Growers Association