You keep all the fees you generate. Civil litigation used to be recognized as by definition an unproductive enterprise. In the grand economic scheme, it's all overhead. Now it is seen as just the opposite. Litigation is a giant industry all by itself, producing trouble, legal fees, and little else, without even much pretense any more about the purpose of it all.
Lawyers have to be aggressive today.
Lawyering needs include marketing strategy, data bases, litigation support services, client finders, jury profilers and witness screeners. Affirms Attorneys' Fee Award in Class Action. The whole idea of unlimited jury awards and contingency-fee litigation is almost exclusive to America. In Europe, to this day, it is considered a corrupting influence precisely because it inflates the cost of litigation and makes the lawyer himself a party to the suit. It clouds the judgment with thoughts of money.