A contingency fee is a type of fee arrangement in which a lawyer agrees to represent a client in exchange for a percentage of the client's settlement or verdict. This is a common fee arrangement for personal injury attorney fees and is different from other types of legal practices that use a fixed hourly fee. This means that most personal injury lawyers only get paid if they are able to win your case and recover compensation for you. If they are not successful, the personal injury attorneys do not get paid.