A walk through the parts of a motor vehicle injury claim that are hard to see from the outside, including comparative fault, filing deadlines, medical liens and what the file looks like when it closes.
Two contingency agreements can both say one third and produce settlement checks that differ by thousands of dollars on the same claim. The percentage is the part everyone reads and the part that tells you least, because it is a rate applied to a base, and the base is defined somewhere else in the document, usually in a sentence that runs long and does not announce itself. A careful reader finds that sentence first. Then the costs paragraph. Then the clause about what happens if the case is filed, because that is where the number moves.
Gross recovery or net recovery, and why the gap is real money
The base is either the gross recovery, meaning the full amount the insurer pays before anything is deducted, or the net recovery, meaning what remains after case costs come out. On a settlement with modest expenses, the difference is small. On a case that required an accident reconstructionist, a treating physician's deposition and certified records from four providers, the difference is substantial, because every dollar of cost that comes off before the percentage is a dollar the fee is not calculated on. Most agreements use gross. That is not hidden and it is not unusual, but it should be a decision you made rather than one you discovered later.
The second half of that same sentence matters too: whether the fee is figured before or after medical liens and health plan reimbursement claims are satisfied. Liens are almost always paid from the client's share after the fee, which is standard practice and worth confirming in writing rather than assuming. A careful reader asks the attorney to walk through a hypothetical settlement out loud, naming a round number and following it down to the client line. An office that does this readily is telling you something useful about how the closing statement will look.
Fee and case costs are two different pots
The fee compensates the attorney for time and risk. Case costs are money spent on the file: filing fees, service of process, medical records, deposition transcripts, court reporters, expert witness retainers, mediation fees, exhibit preparation. Firms typically advance these and recover them from the settlement, which means the money is real whether or not you ever see an invoice. Ask whether costs are itemized on the closing statement, whether there is a cap or a threshold above which your approval is needed, and whether the office charges interest on advanced costs. Ask also about internal charges for copying, postage and mileage, which some agreements bill and others absorb.
The question that separates one agreement from another is what happens to those costs if the case is lost. Some agreements make the client responsible for advanced costs regardless of outcome. Others waive them entirely on a defense verdict or a case that closes without recovery. Both arrangements are used, and the second is common, but the language is what governs, not the general impression given in the meeting. Read the sentence that begins with "in the event no recovery is obtained" and read it slowly.
The step-up, and what triggers it
Most agreements contain a tiered rate. A lower percentage applies if the claim resolves before a lawsuit is filed, a higher one once suit is on file, and sometimes a third tier if the case is set for trial, tried, or appealed. The logic is sound: filing multiplies the work, the costs and the exposure. What a careful reader checks is the trigger. Is the step-up keyed to the date the petition is filed, to the defendant's answer, to a trial setting, or to jury selection? A case that settles two weeks after filing sits on one side of that line or the other depending on wording alone.
Also worth locating: what happens if you end the relationship partway through, whether the firm takes a lien for time already invested, whether associated or referral counsel share the same fee without increasing it, and who has final authority to accept or refuse an offer. That last one should read clearly in your favor. The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for consumer protection standards in contract disclosure generally, and the plain-language habits that came out of that oversight have made these agreements more readable than they were a generation ago.
What to do with the document before the pen moves
Take a copy home. A reputable office expects it, and Oklahoma practice supports giving a client the executed agreement along with any exhibits referenced in it. Write your questions in the margin, one per clause, and bring the marked-up copy back. Good questions are specific: name the base, name the trigger, name who bears costs on a loss. The answers become part of a working relationship that may last two years, and an agreement you understood on day one is an agreement you will not need to relitigate on the day the check arrives.