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Personal Injury Contingency Fee Agreements: Avoiding Pitfalls; Key Provisions; Best Drafting Practices

Dividing Fees Between Discharged and Successor Counsel, Fee Formulas and Amounts, Conflicts, Conversion Clauses

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

1:00pm-2:30pm EDT, 10:00am-11:30am PDT

(Alert: Event date has changed from 4/15/2025!)

or call 1-800-926-7926
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This CLE webinar will review best practices for drafting plaintiff's contingency fee agreements. The panel will examine the principal sections of a contingency fee agreement that should be included and what provisions should not be included without rendering the agreement unenforceable. The program will also discuss the division of fees between discharged and successor counsel.

Description

Contingent fees are the standard in personal injury plaintiffs' practice. As a result, plaintiffs' lawyers must ensure that they have a proper, written contingent fee agreement signed by the client(s) and that the agreement complies with the applicable rules of professional responsibility, namely Rule 1.5.

Key issues include clear identification of the client, how costs will be advanced and repaid, settlement or other resolution before trial, liens, client obligations, association of other counsel, what triggers payments, and more. Disputes can arise if the representation ends before the event occurs that triggers a lawyer's right to a contingent fee (e.g., a recovery of money), whether the lawyer withdraws or employment is terminated. Disputes also arise over how to split fees between terminated and successor counsel.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines and discusses the critical sections of a contingency fee agreement and best practices for avoiding pitfalls and conflicts.

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Outline

  1. Overview of history of contingency fees
  2. Requirements of Rule 1.5
  3. Key provisions that must be included in contingency fee agreements
  4. Provisions that may void contingency fee agreements
  5. Best drafting practices

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What is the effect of a damages cap on a contingency fee contract?
  • Do contingency fees incentivize lawyers to settle cases in their own financial interest?
  • What are the most important provisions?
  • Why may clients refuse to pay the contingency fee?

Faculty

Ervin, Joe
Joe Ervin
Attorney
The Law Firm for Truck Safety

Mr. Ervin is an Oklahoma trial lawyer who limits his practice to cases involving commercial motor vehicle crashes,...  |  Read More

Johnston, Randy
Randy Johnston
Shareholder
Johnston Tobey Baruch

Mr Johnston handles cases involving professional malpractice and breaches of fiduciary duty as well as other...  |  Read More

Thompson, Ryan
Ryan L. Thompson
Managing Partner
Thompson Law

Mr. Thompson is the managing partner of Thompson Law LLP and serves as the firm’s lead trial...  |  Read More

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You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

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