Intellectual Property Law

Are they lawyers in civil trials who will agree to only be paid if successful, even if you are the defendent?

I know for a lot of plaintiffs, lawyers will work on a contingency. If you are the defendent, can a similar arragement be made, and if so, what is this called? I would be okay with agreeing to pay only if there is a settlement or successful outcome.

Public Comments

1. Only if you are suing another person or business. If you are getting sued but not suing anybody then no.
2. Probably not. The defendant doesn't stand to gain anything from the trial, so there is no big payday awaiting a defense lawyer. They usually want payment as the services are rendered.
3. There are a small number of attorneys who will do civil defense work on a contingency basis. Typically, the contingency is calculated based on the Plaintiff's last demand or some other estimate of a worst case scenario. The defense firm then gets a percentage of the money that the verdict or settlement is under that demand or estimate. It is not particularly common, but there are some who will consider that approach to calculating fees. Obviously, there are some types of cases which do not lend themselves to contingency contracts (e.g. cases seeking injunctions or other equitable relief) and others in which contingency contracts are not permitted (e.g. domestic relations cases).