The core promise: no recovery, no fee
A contingency fee means the attorney's fee is contingent — dependent — on actually winning or settling the case. If there's no recovery at all, the client generally owes no attorney fee, regardless of how much work went into the case.
What Rule 1.5 actually requires
Rule 1.5(a) of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct sets the baseline: a lawyer's fee must be reasonable. Rule 1.5(c), specific to contingent fees, requires a written agreement, signed by the client, clearly stating the method used to determine the fee — including, where applicable, different percentages that apply at different stages of the case, such as before suit is filed versus after trial begins.
A separate statute runs alongside the ethics rule
Louisiana Revised Statute 37:218 independently authorizes attorneys to take an interest in the subject matter of a suit as their fee — the statutory basis for a contingent fee contract in Louisiana's civil law tradition. This statute, and the body of case law interpreting it, operates alongside Rule 1.5 rather than simply restating it.
Courts have genuinely reduced excessive fees
The reasonableness requirement isn't just theoretical. Louisiana courts, including federal courts applying Louisiana law, have reduced contingency fees found to exceed what the Rule 1.5(a) factors support — in one notable federal case, a contingency fee was reduced from 40% to roughly one-third, even though the client had originally agreed to the higher percentage.
No specific percentage written into current law
Beyond these procedural and ethical requirements, Louisiana sets no specific percentage ceiling for a personal injury or medical malpractice contingency fee today. The rate is negotiated privately between attorney and client, commonly landing between 33% and 40% of the total recovery.