ABSTRACT
A considerable body of law has developed on the limitations of the general validity of contingent fee contracts. The existing laws fall under the following headings: doctrines designed to discourage litigation and to prohibit participation by those not parties to a lawsuit. Barristers are prohibited by the regulations of the Inns of Court and by the rules of the General Council of the Bar from any sharing of costs or profits and from any contingent arrangement for their fee. Considering the contingent fee contract as an agreement by a lawyer to render assistance to a litigant in a matter in which he, the lawyer, is not directly concerned, with the expectation of being paid a fee out of the recovery. The code adopted in 1848 in New York contained a section repealing all statutes establishing or regulating the costs and fees for all types of legal services and all restrictions on agreements between party and counsel.
