The attorney's fee: compensation for the work
The contingency fee is the attorney's own compensation for handling the case — calculated as a percentage of the settlement or award. It's earnings, not a reimbursement, and it's what the attorney keeps for taking on the risk and the work of the case.
Case costs: real expenses the case required
Case costs are something entirely different: actual out-of-pocket expenses the case genuinely needed. This typically includes expert witness fees, court filing fees, the cost of obtaining medical records, deposition transcripts, and similar litigation expenses. These are reimbursed, not earned.
A real, specific rule for installment settlements
Oregon ethics guidance has specifically addressed a structural question: when a settlement pays out across multiple installments rather than all at once, how much fee can the attorney take from each payment? The answer is clear — absent a contrary agreement, the lawyer takes only the agreed prorated percentage from each installment. Taking the full contingent fee out of the earliest payments, leaving the client to wait for later installments with nothing deducted, has been treated as charging more than the client agreed to pay — a clearly excessive fee under RPC 1.5(a).
Why this detail matters for structured settlements
If a case resolves with a structured settlement or payment plan rather than a single lump sum, this proration rule means both the client and the attorney receive their respective shares proportionally across each payment, rather than the attorney being paid in full upfront. Worth confirming this is how a specific fee agreement actually works before signing.
Who fronts the money while the case is pending
Commonly, the attorney's office advances case costs as the litigation proceeds, with reimbursement coming out of the eventual settlement or award. The specific arrangement, including how costs are handled across any installment payments, depends entirely on the individual fee agreement.