Contingency fee calculator
See what you would actually keep from a settlement. Enter the numbers from your own fee agreement. We don't fill in a percentage for you because fees differ and are often negotiable.
1. Enter the numbers from your agreement
2. The order of deductions
Two agreements with the same percentage can leave you with different amounts. What matters is whether the fee is worked out on the gross settlement or on what's left after case costs are repaid. The calculator shows both side by side.
- Gross settlement. The full amount the insurer or defendant pays.
- Fee. The percentage in your agreement, applied either to the gross or to the amount after costs.
- Tax on the fee. In some places, such as VAT in the UK, tax is added to the lawyer's fee.
- Case costs. Filing fees, medical records, expert reports and similar expenses the lawyer paid.
- Liens and repayments. Money owed back to a health plan, benefits provider or other payer.
- Your net. What you receive.
In England and Wales, a success fee in a personal injury claim under a conditional fee agreement can't be more than 25% of certain damages, excluding future losses. Source: Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, art. 5 · as of 4 November 2026
Under the American Bar Association's model rules, a contingent fee agreement must be in writing and say how the fee is worked out and which expenses are deducted. Most states follow a version of this rule. Source: ABA Model Rule 1.5(c) · as of 4 November 2026
Before you sign, ask for a sample settlement statement. Read more in our guide to lawyer fees and the glossary entry for contingency fee.
Uses only the numbers you enter. General information, not legal advice. Your signed agreement and local rules decide how fees and costs are worked out.
Updated 4 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.