The cost of legal representation in a Georgia wrongful death case is most often structured as a contingency fee. This arrangement is common in personal injury and wrongful death matters across Georgia. Understanding how a contingency fee is calculated, how it differs from case expenses, and what Georgia’s professional rules require helps explain how attorney compensation works in these cases.
What a Contingency Fee Is
A contingency fee is a fee that is paid only if the case produces a recovery. Instead of charging an hourly rate or a flat fee paid up front, an attorney working on contingency agrees to be paid a percentage of the amount recovered through a settlement or a judgment. If there is no recovery, the contingency fee is not owed.
In a wrongful death case, the recovery may come from a negotiated settlement or from a verdict after trial. The contingency fee is calculated against that recovery according to the terms of the written fee agreement.
How the Percentage Works
Contingency fees in Georgia personal injury and wrongful death cases are commonly expressed as a percentage of the recovery, frequently in a range around one-third for cases resolved before trial, sometimes increasing if the case proceeds through litigation or trial. The exact percentage is not fixed by statute. It is set by the agreement between the attorney and the client and may vary based on the nature of the case and the stage at which it resolves.
Some fee agreements use a tiered structure, applying one percentage if the case settles before a lawsuit is filed and a higher percentage if the case requires filing suit, extensive litigation, or trial. This reflects the additional time and work that later stages involve.
Georgia’s Professional Rules for Contingency Fees
Attorney fees in Georgia are governed by the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which are adopted and enforced by the State Bar of Georgia. Rule 1.5 addresses fees and contains specific requirements for contingency fee arrangements.
Under Rule 1.5, a contingency fee agreement must be in writing and signed by the client. The written agreement must state the method by which the fee is to be determined, including the percentage or percentages that apply, and how litigation and other expenses are to be deducted from the recovery. The agreement must also specify whether expenses are deducted before or after the contingency fee is calculated, because that ordering affects the final amounts.
Rule 1.5 also requires that any fee be reasonable. The rule lists factors that bear on reasonableness, including the time and labor required, the difficulty of the questions involved, the skill needed to perform the legal service, the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar services, the amount involved and the results obtained, and the experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer. A contingency percentage that is standard in routine cases may be subject to scrutiny if applying it would be unreasonable under the circumstances.
At the conclusion of a contingency fee matter, Rule 1.5 requires the lawyer to provide the client with a written statement showing the outcome of the matter and, if there is a recovery, the remittance to the client and the method of its determination.
Case Expenses Are Separate From the Fee
The contingency fee is the attorney’s compensation for legal services. It is separate from the expenses, sometimes called costs, of pursuing the case. Litigation expenses in a wrongful death case can include court filing fees, fees for serving documents, charges for obtaining medical and other records, deposition and court reporter costs, and fees for expert witnesses such as forensic economists, accident reconstruction experts, or medical experts.
In many contingency arrangements, the attorney advances these expenses during the case and is reimbursed from the recovery. The written fee agreement specifies how expenses are handled. Whether expenses are subtracted from the recovery before or after the contingency fee is applied is a term of the agreement and affects the net amount the client receives.
A Simplified Illustration
To show how the ordering affects the result, consider a general illustration with round numbers. If a case resolves for a certain amount, and the fee agreement states that expenses are deducted before the contingency percentage is applied, the percentage is calculated on the recovery minus the expenses. If the agreement states that the contingency percentage is applied first and expenses are then deducted from the remainder, the calculation produces a different distribution. This is why Rule 1.5 requires the agreement to state the ordering. The illustration is general; actual amounts and terms depend entirely on the specific written agreement and the specific case.
Wrongful Death Recoveries and Their Distribution
A Georgia wrongful death recovery for the full value of the life of the decedent belongs to the surviving family members entitled to bring the claim under O.C.G.A. Title 51, Chapter 4. When more than one family member shares in the recovery, the statute governs how the recovery is divided among them. Survival action proceeds, which compensate the decedent’s own pre-death losses, belong to the estate. Because more than one party may be involved, the handling and distribution of a recovery, and how the contingency fee and expenses apply to it, are matters addressed by the fee agreement and, where appropriate, by court oversight.
Why Contingency Fees Are Common in These Cases
The contingency structure means that legal representation does not require payment of attorney fees up front and does not require the client to pay the fee if the case does not result in a recovery. The attorney’s compensation is tied to the outcome. This structure is widely used in Georgia wrongful death and personal injury cases, and Georgia’s professional rules require that its terms be set out in writing so that the client understands the percentage, the treatment of expenses, and the basis on which the final figures are determined.
Summary
In Georgia, wrongful death representation is typically provided on a contingency fee basis, meaning the attorney is paid a percentage of any recovery and is not paid a fee if there is no recovery. The percentage is set by a written, client-signed agreement rather than by statute, and it is subject to the reasonableness requirements of Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5. Case expenses are separate from the fee, and the written agreement must specify how expenses are deducted and in what order relative to the fee.
Disclaimer
This article is provided strictly for general educational and informational purposes. It is intended to explain how Georgia law works as a matter of public legal education, and it does not constitute legal advice, a legal opinion, or a recommendation about any particular course of action. Reading this article, or contacting the website on which it appears, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and any law firm, attorney, or author.
The law changes over time. Statutes, regulations, court rules, and judicial decisions discussed here may have been amended, repealed, superseded, or reinterpreted after the date of publication, and citations to specific code sections or cases reflect the law only as it was understood when this article was written. The application of any legal principle also depends heavily on the specific facts and circumstances of an individual matter, and outcomes vary from case to case.
For these reasons, no one should rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney who can review the particular facts involved. The author and publisher make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or applicability of the information provided, and disclaim any liability for any action taken or not taken based on this content.