Contingency Fee Calculator — Expense Order
Calculate an entered contingency percentage with costs deducted before or after the fee, showing the recovery remainder and any shortfall.
Calculate a contingency-fee scenario from the recovery, an agreed percentage and expenses allocated to that recovery. Select whether those expenses reduce the percentage base or are deducted afterward. The two methods can produce different client remainders even when the recovery and percentage are identical.
How to use this tool
- Enter the gross recovery and the percentage from the applicable agreement.
- Enter expenses to be charged against that recovery.
- Select the agreement’s before-fee or after-fee expense order.
- Inspect the fee base, remaining recovery and any modeled shortfall.
Formula
Before-cost fee = max(recovery − costs, 0) × percentage / 100; after-cost fee = recovery × percentage / 100
The recovery remainder is recovery minus fee and costs. A negative result becomes a separately labeled shortfall, while the available remainder is zero. This arithmetic does not assign legal responsibility for costs or determine whether a fee arrangement is permitted.
Example
On a 100,000 recovery with a 30% fee and 10,000 expenses, deducting expenses first leaves a 90,000 fee base. The fee is 27,000 and the remainder 63,000. Calculating the fee first gives 30,000 in fees and a 60,000 remainder.
Frequently asked questions
Which expense order should I choose?
Use the actual agreement and applicable requirements. The ABA model fee rule discusses specifying that order, but model rules are not automatically the law of every jurisdiction. This tool does not choose a term for you.
Is the entered percentage legally allowed?
The calculator does not check local caps, prohibited matters or other restrictions. Its 0–100% input range is an arithmetic range, not approval of an agreement.
What if the case produces no recovery?
The percentage fee is zero in this model. Entered costs may still create a shortfall in the worksheet; whether the client owes those costs is a separate contractual and legal question.
Sources
This tool gives an estimate for general information only. It is not financial, tax, legal or medical advice — check with a qualified professional before you rely on the result.
Last updated: 2026