Attorneys treat contingent fee cases as a risk-and-reward portfolio.
Evidence
The contingent fee arrangement makes sense for a lawyer only when the prospect of a substantial fee outweighs the risk of no fee at all. Often attorneys have a set, or portfolio, of cases that involve varying risks and payoffs. Contingent fee arrangements are most frequent in personal plight cases; for example, when clients are suing because of injuries sustained in an accident or as the result of defects in a product they purchased. Although there is a degree of risk and uncertainty in such cases, often the question is not whether the plaintiff will obtain damages but rather the size of the award or settlement. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 743
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Contingent fees dominate accident and product-injury civil litigation; Contingency-fee lawyers must select defendants who have deep pockets — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 338; Contingency-fee lawyers can collect fees exceeding any individual plaintiff’s recovery — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 2878 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- A contingent fee shifts the attorney’s compensation onto case outcome rather than hours.
#expands(0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1145 - Contingency-fee lawyers must select defendants who have deep pockets
#expands(0.82) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 338 - Contingent fees dominate accident and product-injury civil litigation
#exemplifies(0.78) - Contingency-fee lawyers can collect fees exceeding any individual plaintiff’s recovery
#expands(0.78) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 2878 - A litigator’s willingness to risk everything shapes his colleagues’ fates.
#expands(0.76) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 2597 - Contingency fees are the main reason individual plaintiffs can sue repeat players.
#expands(0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2265 - Contingency fees make personal injury the main exception to one-shotters avoiding litigation
#qualifies(0.74) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1114 - Low assigned-counsel fees incentivize attorneys to take overwhelming caseloads and avoid trials.
#complicates(0.73) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1656