1. Contingency agency charging standards In practice, there are two charging methods for contingency agency cases handled and contacted by lawyers: 1. Semi-risk agency Agency model In the agency contract, the lawyer's fees are divided into two parts, basic agency fee + contingency fee. The basic agency fee is paid after signing the contract and is non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the case. The risk agency part agrees on a certain ratio or standard, and pays the risk agency fee based on the outcome of the case. 2. Full risk agency model. All agency fees in the contract are linked to the results. The fees payable are determined according to a certain proportion or standard and combined with the outcome of the case. Regardless of whether it is the risk agency part of the semi-risk agency model or the full-risk agency model, depending on the circumstances of the case, the two parties can also agree that the parties will pay part or all of the risk agency fee first, and finally refund more or less according to the outcome of the case. It should be noted that the lawyer's contingency fee refers to the contingency fee paid by the lawyer if he is unable to obtain corresponding compensation. However, attorney fees, preservation fees and other expenses collected by third parties such as the court or travel expenses and other case-handling expenses incurred by lawyers in the course of handling the case do not fall within the scope of risk agency. Litigation-related fees charged by third parties such as courts will occur whether or not a lawyer is retained. If the lawyer does not represent the lawyer's travel expenses during the case handling, the client will also have to deal with them on his own. These fees are paid by the parties themselves based on actual circumstances and are not included in the lawyer's contingency fee range. In addition, the outcome of the case may be linked to the outcome of the case judgment or the outcome of the case execution after the judgment. What exactly is linked to the results needs to be clarified by both parties in the agency contract.
2. Risks of agency fees According to the provisions of Article 13 of the "Administrative Measures for Lawyer Service Fees" of the Ministry of Justice: If risk agency fees are implemented, the maximum fee shall not be higher than 30% of the fee agreed in the agency contract. . The specific ratio is determined by the parties and their lawyers through negotiation based on the difficulty of the case, the size of the subject matter, the region, the contingency fee method, etc. The general principle is that risks and benefits are proportional: The difficulty of the case is greater than the difficulty of the case. The fee ratio is higher for cases with low degree of difficulty; the fee ratio for cases with a small subject amount is higher than for cases with a large subject amount; and the fee ratio for cases in remote places is higher than for local cases. The charging ratio for overseas cases is higher than that for local cases; the charging ratio for full risk model is higher than the charging ratio for semi-risk model; the charging ratio for semi-risk model is higher than the high basic charging ratio; the charging ratio for full payment afterwards is higher than the risk agency fee ratio paid beforehand ; The fee ratio for cases linked to execution results is higher than the fee ratio for cases linked to judgment results; in addition, lawyers should also note that the risk agency model is not as effective as the risk agency model when the number of cases is small.
3. Cases that prohibit or are not suitable for risk agency Not all cases are suitable for risk agency, and not all cases can use risk agency. According to the "Beijing Lawyer Service Charges Management Measures", risk representation is prohibited in the following cases: 1. As a private prosecutor of a criminal suspect or defendant and an agent of a victim in a criminal case. 2. Act as an agent in civil and administrative litigation cases in which citizens request payment of labor remuneration, work-related injury compensation, request for payment of alimony, childcare and maintenance fees, request for the payment of pensions and relief funds, and request for social insurance benefits or minimum living security benefits. People, as well as representing public interests (compensation) in group litigation cases involving safety accidents, environmental pollution, land acquisition and demolition compensation, etc. 3. Act as a lawyer entrusted by citizens. 3. Act as an agent in cases where citizens request state compensation. Regarding the risk scope of this prohibited agency, charging methods are the same everywhere, because they are all based on higher-level laws and regulations. Special note: According to the 2006 "Administrative Measures for Lawyer Service Fees" of the Ministry of Justice, "marriage and inheritance" cases cannot adopt the method of risk agency. However, the 2016 "Beijing Administrative Measures for Lawyer Service Fees" does not stipulate that "marriage and inheritance" cases "Risk agency cannot be applied to the case. However, the 2016 "Beijing Lawyer Service Fee Management Measures" does not stipulate that "marriage and inheritance" cases shall not implement risk agency.
This is because in the 2014 National Development and Reform Commission's "Notice on Forwarding the National Development and Reform Commission's Opinions on Liberalizing Certain Service Prices", the scope of lawyer services that impose government-guided prices does not include "marriage and inheritance" cases. In other words, according to the latest regulations, risk agency can be used in "marriage and inheritance" cases. Of course, for cases that are not within the prohibited scope, the parties may not be willing to bear the risks of representation, and if the parties want to bear the risks of representation, the lawyers may not accept the cases. For the parties concerned, only when the case risk reaches a certain value will the parties be willing to bear agency risks. For lawyers, the usual risks of being represented are mostly litigation or non-litigation cases involving a certain amount of property, such as "contract disputes" and "debt collection disputes" with relatively large amounts. If the amount of the case is small, even if the maximum legal fee is 30%, the lawyer will not receive much legal fees. Of course, the lawyer will not be willing to represent the case. If the lawyer thinks that there is obviously no chance of winning and there is too much possibility of labor without benefit, the lawyer will not accept it. In short, agency risk belongs to the market-adjusted price, which mainly depends on both parties considering their own interests and negotiating. The above knowledge is the answer to the lawyer's "contingency agency" charging standards. Dear readers