No cap, anywhere, including medical malpractice
Georgia imposes no statutory percentage cap or sliding scale on contingency fees in any type of personal injury case. The fee must simply be reasonable under Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5. 33% to 40% is a commonly used range.
A real cost burden, even without a fee cap
Here's where Georgia medical malpractice cases genuinely differ, even though the fee itself isn't capped: O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 requires an affidavit from a qualified expert in the same specialty as the defendant to accompany the complaint from the very start — before the case can even be filed. That means retaining and paying a qualified medical expert is a real, often substantial cost incurred up front, not something that can wait until later in the case the way expert costs sometimes can in other types of claims.
What else comes out before you do
Case costs — expenses the attorney typically advances during litigation, like expert witness fees, filing fees, and the cost of gathering medical records — are generally reimbursed from the settlement. If Medicare, Medicaid, or a private health insurer has an outstanding lien for medical treatment related to the injury, that amount is also repaid before you receive your net share.