No cap outside medical malpractice
For an ordinary personal injury claim, Maine imposes no statutory cap on the contingency fee percentage — the fee is set by private agreement, subject to Maine Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5's general reasonableness standard. 33.3%, or one-third, is a commonly used figure.
Medical malpractice: a genuine sliding scale
24 M.R.S. § 2961, part of the Maine Health Security Act, caps contingency fees in a professional negligence action on a sliding scale: 33⅓% of the first $100,000 recovered, 25% of the next $100,000, and 20% of anything above $200,000. Unlike a single flat percentage, this structure means the effective overall rate actually declines as the recovery grows larger.
A built-in path to a higher fee, if the cap falls short
The statute includes a genuinely distinctive escape valve: after winning, the attorney can petition the court to approve a fee exceeding the statutory schedule, if the court finds — using Rule 1.5's reasonableness factors as a guide — that the capped amount is inadequate, and that the higher fee doesn't exceed what the original contingent fee agreement specified as its own maximum. The attorney must have told the client about this possibility, in writing, before the agreement was ever signed.
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.