I am Clarke Kent Wittstruck, an Asheville personal injury and civil litigation attorney. I represent individuals who have been injured - either physically and financially.
A contingency fee contract is an agreement to take a percentage of the final reward/proceeds in a case. This is a standard arrangement for hiring an attorney in most personal injury cases. In theory this produces an incentive for the lawyer to get as much money as possible for the client because the lawyer also makes more money. This maximizes the return to both the client and the lawyer. And this is true if the client understands the true value of the case.
But most clients rely completely on their lawyer to "price" this value. So are you getting correct compensation for your injuries? It's hard to say. There is no exact formula. But it is worth analyzing how your lawyer prices your case and how he determines his compensation - whether the lawyer's percentage of the award is fairly related to the amount and speed of work performed, the stage of the litigation and the reputation of the lawyer.
I break cases down into parts which represent a certain amount of work - with the last part being a trial. Then, if the case is resolved by settlement, I price the contingency "fee" awarded to the lawyer based upon how many "parts" have been completed. What this means is I will charge you a lower percentage if the case is settled at an earlier stage.
Usually civil litigation cases are arguments over money - for damages done to your enjoyment of your property and/or your opportunity to make money. And financial disputes - breach of contract, damage to property, collection of monies owed, etc - are usually easier to "price" than personal injury cases. But you also need to fully understand the costs of litigation in getting a Court to order compensation for your damages.
All financial disputes must be evaluated from this "cost effectiveness" perspective. And if you are in a lawyer's office complaining about being damaged due to a partner, vendor, supplier, subcontractor or any obligor on a promise breaching your "agreement" or damaging your property you have already lost something important and valuable: your time. So let's efficiently discuss your damages, your remedies, your options and your costs before you rush into the court system. Let's make certain all other options been exhausted.