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.
The four tiers, exactly
Rule 1:21-7(c) sets out the maximum contingent fee as: 33⅓% on the first $750,000 recovered; 30% on the next $750,000; 25% on the next $750,000; 20% on the next $750,000; and a reasonable fee, subject to court approval, on anything beyond $3,000,000 total.
Each tier applies only to its own slice
The percentage for each tier applies only to the portion of the recovery that falls within that tier — not to the entire settlement at whatever the highest rate reached happens to be. That means the effective overall percentage drops as the total recovery climbs past $750,000: a $1.5 million recovery is charged 33⅓% on the first $750,000 and 30% on the next $750,000, working out to an effective rate below 32% overall, not a flat 30%.
A special rule for a minor's pre-trial settlement
Where the client was a minor or mentally incapacitated when the fee arrangement was made, the standard tiers still apply as the general ceiling — except that the fee on any amount recovered by settlement before trial is capped at 25%, regardless of what the tier structure would otherwise allow.
A ceiling, not a floor
Rule 1:21-7 fixes maximum permissible fees; it doesn't require an attorney to charge the maximum, and nothing stops an attorney from agreeing to a lower contingent fee. Whatever rate is charged must still satisfy the general reasonableness standard of RPC 1.5(a).