Surprise! You cannot collect a contingent fee if your client rejects a settlement offer and later collects nothing.
In this Louisana Supreme Court decision in the case of Cullpepper & Carroll v. Cole (No. 05-C-1136) attorneys sought a one-third fee of a rejected settlement proposal in an estate case.
Check this out: “Having found a contingent fee contract exists, we now turn to the question of whether Mr. Culpepper is entitled to recover any attorney’s fees under this contract. Pursuant to the parties’ agreement, Mr. Culpepper is entitled to one-third “of whatever additional property or money” he obtained on behalf of Mr. Cole. It is undisputed that Mr. Cole recovered no additional property or money as a result of the litigation against his mother’s estate. Because Mr. Cole obtained no recovery, it follows that Mr. Culpepper is not entitled to any contingent fee.