what is a typical lawyer contingency fee
In a typical contingency fee agreement, the plaintiff is only responsible for paying their attorney if they win the case, with the payment coming as a percentage of the winnings, usually around 30%. The reason that contingency fees are used so often is related to the cost of pursuing a trial. In California, the median attorney hourly rate starts at $350 (pdf) for a small firm with 1-3 years of experience, and goes as high as $453 (average) for a large firm with 26-30 years of experience.