contingent fee

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.

Example Sentences

The court said Behles also failed to keep client money separate from her own and unreasonably charged a contingent fee on the return of her client’s court bond.

From Washington Times

Related: Paintings found in Austrian home not stolen by Nazis, says elderly collector A first group of heirs had been tracked down by a genealogist and a notary, who was also working for the state, and to whom all the non-Austrian residents were required to pay a 40% contingent fee.

From The Guardian

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

Even if you win a lawsuit, you may have to pay the IRS, even on your attorney’s fees paid directly to your lawyer. When people talk of paying tax on money they never see—like money paid to a contingent fee lawyer from a case—it is usually because of the AMT.

From Forbes

If you recover $1 million in a lawsuit and your contingent fee lawyer keeps 40%, you might assume that—at worst—you have $600,000 of income. Actually, you have $1 million of income even if you only net $600,000! 

From Forbes