No percentage cap
Kansas imposes no statutory percentage cap on contingency fees in personal injury or wrongful death cases. The fee must simply be reasonable under Kansas Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(a). Most contingency fees fall between 33% and 40% of the total recovery.
What the written agreement has to cover
Rule 1.5(d) requires a contingent fee agreement to be in writing, clearly state the method used to determine the fee, and advise the client of a right to have the fee reviewed, as the rule itself provides — a built-in procedural safeguard that applies to contingent fee agreements generally, separate from the statutes that govern fees in domestic, criminal, or other matters where a contingent fee is precluded entirely.
Fee-shifting is a different track
In cases where a separate Kansas statute awards attorney fees to one side as part of a judgment (fee-shifting, as opposed to a contingency fee paid by the client), the court independently reviews the reasonableness of the amount requested — a different, statute-specific process from the private contingency fee agreement that governs most personal injury 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.