ABSTRACT
In examining court decisions, statutes, and regulations which deal with the rights of lawyer and client under contingent fee contracts. One of the basic features of the lawyer-client relationship is the fact that it is terminable at will at the option of the client, with or without cause. Before the lawyer is entitled to his fee he must complete the performance required by the contract, a task usually put in such terms as "to recover damages" arising out of a certain incident, "to effect a full and final settlement" of a claim, or "to prosecute" a client's claim. An issue of importance in every contract is the allocation between client and lawyer of the various costs and expenses incurred in pressing the claim. While lawyer's or attorneys' liens apply to fee contracts of all kinds, they are of particular importance to our discussion of contingent fee contracts.
