What Is the Contingency Fee Cap in California?

The contingency fee cap in California is narrow: it only applies to medical malpractice cases. For those claims, your attorney cannot collect more than 25% of the net recovery if the case resolves before a lawsuit or arbitration demand is filed, or more than 33% if it resolves after. Every other kind of personal injury or civil case in California has no statutory percentage ceiling. The fee is whatever you and the attorney negotiate in writing, limited only by a rule against unconscionable fees.

The Medical Malpractice Cap Under MICRA

The one hard statutory cap sits in Business and Professions Code Section 6146, part of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. Assembly Bill 35 rewrote the old four-tier sliding scale and replaced it with a two-tier structure for all cases filed, or arbitrations demanded, on or after January 1, 2023.¹

25% of the net recovery if the case settles before anyone files a civil complaint or demand for arbitration.
33% of the net recovery if the case resolves after a complaint or arbitration demand is filed, whether by settlement, arbitration award, or verdict.

If the case is actually tried in court or arbitrated, the attorney can ask the judge or arbitrator for a fee higher than 33%. That request is not automatic; the court decides based on whether the attorney shows good cause.¹

The caps apply the same way whether the injured person is an adult, a minor, or someone with a mental incapacity.

How “Net Recovery” Works

The percentage comes off the net recovery, not the gross settlement or verdict. Net means the total minus litigation costs such as court filing fees, deposition expenses, and expert witness charges. The client’s own medical bills and the attorney’s office overhead cannot be deducted first.¹

Health insurer liens, Medicare reimbursement, and other subrogation claims come out of the client’s share after the attorney’s fee is calculated. These deductions should be laid out in the written fee agreement so the final distribution is not a surprise.

Other Personal Injury Cases: No Statutory Cap

Car accidents, slip-and-fall claims, defective product cases, and other personal injury matters that are not medical malpractice have no statutory percentage cap under California law. The rate is whatever the attorney and client agree to in writing, provided it is not unconscionable.

In practice, most California personal injury attorneys charge somewhere between 33% and 40%, with lower numbers more common when the case is expected to settle quickly and higher numbers reserved for cases likely to go to trial. Nothing in the statute forces that range, but it is where most agreements land.

Cases Where Contingency Fees Are Not Allowed

Two categories are off limits entirely. Under Rule 1.5 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, an attorney cannot charge a contingency fee for defending a criminal case. An attorney also cannot charge a contingency fee in a family law matter when the fee is contingent on securing a divorce, annulment, or a particular amount of spousal support, child support, or property division.²

Workers’ Compensation Is Separate

If you are pursuing a workers’ compensation claim rather than a civil injury lawsuit, a different fee system applies. Attorney fees in California workers’ comp cases typically run between 9% and 15% of the final permanent disability award or settlement, and the fee must be approved by a workers’ compensation judge before the attorney can collect it.³

Federal Claims Have Their Own Caps

If your claim arises under federal law, the ceiling may come from a federal statute rather than California law, even when the case is handled by a California attorney.

Federal Tort Claims Act

Claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act are tightly capped. An attorney cannot collect more than 20% of the recovery if the claim is resolved at the administrative level before a lawsuit, or more than 25% of a judgment or settlement after a lawsuit is filed. Charging more is a federal crime punishable by a fine of up to $2,000, up to one year in prison, or both.⁴

Social Security Disability

Social Security disability representation is subject to a double cap: 25% of past-due benefits or $9,200, whichever is less. The $9,200 figure took effect November 30, 2024.⁵ When a representative files a fee petition instead of using a standard fee agreement, the amount is set by the administrative law judge and may differ.

Federal Civil Rights Cases

In civil rights cases under statutes like 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a prevailing plaintiff can have the court order the defendant to pay attorney fees on top of damages. The court uses the lodestar method, multiplying reasonable hours by a reasonable hourly rate, rather than a percentage of recovery.⁶ A statutory award can offset or reduce what the attorney takes from the client’s share, depending on how the contingency agreement is written.

What Your Written Fee Agreement Must Say

Every contingency fee contract in California has to be in writing and signed by both the attorney and the client when the contract is made. Business and Professions Code Section 6147 lists what the agreement must contain:⁷

The agreed-upon fee percentage.
How litigation costs affect both the fee calculation and the client’s final recovery.
Any compensation the client might owe for related matters not covered by the contingency agreement.
A statement about negotiability. In non-MICRA cases, the agreement must say the fee is not set by law and is negotiable. In MICRA cases, it must say that the Section 6146 percentages are the maximum and a lower rate can be negotiated.

The attorney must give the client a signed copy. If any of these requirements are missed, the agreement is voidable at the client’s option, and the attorney is limited to a reasonable fee for work actually performed.⁷

The Unconscionability Backstop

Even where no statutory percentage applies, every fee is subject to Rule 1.5 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits unconscionable fees. California kept the “unconscionable” standard rather than switching to the “unreasonable” standard used in most other states, which is a somewhat higher bar for challenging a fee.²

Whether a fee crosses that line depends on the full picture: the complexity of the case, the amount of work involved, the result obtained, the attorney’s experience, and whether the client understood what they were signing. A 40% fee on a fender-bender that settles with one phone call could be unconscionable; the same percentage on a complex product liability case that takes years probably is not.

If You Think the Fee Is Too High

The State Bar of California runs a mandatory fee arbitration program for attorney-client fee disputes. It is faster and cheaper than court, and both sides present to a neutral arbitrator. The decision can be binding or non-binding depending on what the parties agree.⁸

If arbitration does not resolve the matter, either side can go to civil court. A judge can reduce an unconscionable fee and, in serious cases, void the fee agreement entirely, leaving the attorney with only a reasonable fee or nothing at all. The State Bar can separately impose discipline, including suspension or disbarment. For attorneys who exceed the Federal Tort Claims Act ceiling, the consequences include criminal fines and possible imprisonment.⁴

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 6146
2
State Bar of California. California Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.5 – Fees for Legal Services
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Workers Compensation in California – A Guidebook for Injured Workers
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2678 – Attorney Fees; Penalty
5
Social Security Administration. GN 03920.006 – Increases to Fee Cap Limits for Fee Agreements
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1988 – Proceedings in Vindication of Civil Rights
7
California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 6147
8
The State Bar of California. Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program and Resources