California: no cap, except in medical malpractice
For an ordinary personal injury case, California imposes no statutory cap on the contingency fee percentage at all — the rate is set entirely by private agreement. The one real exception is medical malpractice, where Business and Professions Code § 6146 sets an actual statutory ceiling.
How California's cap differs from a flat-rate state
Michigan, by contrast, applies a single 33.33% cap across every personal injury case, regardless of type. California's approach is narrower in scope but more structured within that scope: a 25% cap if the medical malpractice case settles before a complaint or arbitration demand is filed, rising to 33% afterward, with room for a court-approved higher fee if the case goes to trial. It's a genuinely different model — not broader, but more precisely targeted.
This cap changed recently, and significantly
Before January 1, 2023, California's medical malpractice fee cap followed a flat declining scale: 40% of the first $50,000, 33% of the next $50,000, 25% of the next $500,000, and 15% of anything beyond $600,000. AB 35 replaced that structure entirely with the current stage-based system — a genuinely significant restructuring, not just a number adjustment.
A reasonableness standard still matters, even without a hard cap
Outside medical malpractice, the absence of a statutory ceiling doesn't mean any fee is automatically acceptable — attorney conduct rules still require a reasonable fee. Inside medical malpractice, the 25%/33% figures set the ceiling, not a mandatory rate; attorney and client remain free to agree to something lower.