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.
A real case about fees charged without real risk
In a reported disciplinary matter, a West Virginia attorney was found to have taken a contingent fee of $1,500 out of roughly $5,000 in medical payments coverage obtained for a client — coverage that required little to no additional work or genuine risk to collect, since it was essentially owed regardless. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals held this violated Rule 1.5(a)(1): "in the absence of any real risk, an attorney's purportedly contingent fee" can itself be clearly excessive.
Why the contingency label alone isn't enough
The case illustrates a genuine principle: simply labeling a fee "contingent," and having a client sign off on it, doesn't automatically make it reasonable. West Virginia courts look at the actual circumstances — including whether there was real risk of collecting nothing — not just the percentage written into the agreement.
No fixed formula, just factors to weigh
Rule 1.5 doesn't supply a numeric formula for reasonableness generally. It lists factors — the time and labor required, the fee customarily charged for similar work, the experience and ability of the attorney, and whether the fee is fixed or contingent — leaving the final figure to case-by-case judgment rather than a statutory percentage.
A commonly used figure in practice
One-third of the recovery is a commonly cited figure in West Virginia personal injury practice. The rate remains negotiable between attorney and client, subject always to the Rule 1.5 reasonableness standard — and to the genuine risk the attorney actually bore in taking the case.