What Percentage Do Maritime Injury Lawyers Take?

The Short Answer

Most maritime injury lawyers are paid from the recovery, not by the hour.

1. The short answer on fees

If you are hurt offshore and cannot work, the cost of a lawyer is not an academic question. So here is the direct answer to what percentage do maritime injury lawyers take: in Jones Act and general maritime injury cases, almost all of them work on a contingency fee, and the share commonly falls in the neighborhood of a third of the recovery, with many agreements rising toward the higher end if the case has to be litigated.

There is also one large exception that most articles on this subject miss entirely, and it applies to a great many injured maritime workers: claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act do not use a contingency percentage at all. That difference is covered in detail below. For the broader picture, see maritime lawyer fees and contingency arrangements.

The Mechanics

No recovery, no fee. That is the core of the arrangement.

2. How a contingency fee works

Before asking what percentage do maritime injury lawyers take, it helps to understand why the percentage exists at all. A contingency fee lets someone who cannot work and cannot pay an hourly rate still hire a lawyer. The firm carries the time and usually advances the expenses, and gets paid out of the result. If there is no result, there is no fee.

• No upfront payment for the lawyer's time in a standard contingency arrangement
• The fee comes out of the recovery, whether that recovery is a settlement or a judgment
• No recovery means no attorney fee, which is the defining feature of the model
• Expenses are tracked separately from the fee and are handled under their own terms

The Variables

The same firm may charge different rates at different stages.

3. What moves the percentage

When people ask what percentage do maritime injury lawyers take, they usually expect a single figure. In reality most written agreements contain several, tied to how far the case has to go.

• Pre-suit settlement: resolved through negotiation before a lawsuit is filed, usually the lowest tier
• After suit is filed: formal litigation, discovery, and depositions push the rate up
• Trial: the most work and the most risk, and typically the highest tier
• Appeal: may carry its own separate percentage

Case complexity matters too. A disputed seaman status question, multiple defendants, or a serious causation fight all mean more work. None of that changes the rule that the tiers must be written down. For a worked example, see how a maritime contingency fee is calculated.

The Fine Print

The expense line is where people are most often surprised.

4. Costs are not the same as fees

This is the single most misunderstood part of a fee agreement, and it has a real dollar effect. Two firms can quote you the same percentage and deliver different outcomes purely because of how they treat expenses.

Maritime cases tend to be expense-heavy. Vessel inspections, engineering and liability experts, and treating-physician depositions are common, and they are not cheap. Ask what typically gets spent on a case like yours, who advances it, and what happens to those expenses if the case does not succeed. questions to ask about a contingency agreement is a useful checklist here.

The Big Exception

In a Longshore claim the fee is approved by an adjudicator, not set by a contract.

5. Longshore claims work differently

This is the most important thing on this page, and it is the part most fee articles leave out. If your claim falls under the Longshore Act rather than the Jones Act, the entire contingency framework described above does not apply, and the usual answer to what percentage do maritime injury lawyers take simply does not fit your case.

In practice that means the attorney files a fee petition describing the work performed, and the adjudicator decides what is reasonable, with the other side given a chance to object. The Department of Labor has explained that a fee is awarded only when the claim is successfully prosecuted and only when the judge awards one.

There is also a fee-shifting provision. If the employer or carrier declines to pay compensation on or before the thirtieth day after receiving written notice of the claim, and you then succeed with an attorney's help, a reasonable approved fee may be awarded against the employer and paid directly to your attorney in a lump sum. Which track you are on depends on your job and your status, which is why speaking with a maritime lawyer early matters.

The Document

Ethics rules dictate what a contingency agreement has to spell out.

6. What the agreement must say

A handshake is not enough, and that protects you. The governing ethics rule is specific about what has to appear in the document.

• In writing and signed by you, not agreed verbally
• The percentage at each stage, covering settlement, trial, and appeal
• Which expenses are deducted from the recovery
• Whether expenses come out before or after the fee is calculated
• Clear notice of expenses you may owe whether or not you prevail

The same rule requires that fees be reasonable, and at the end of the matter the lawyer must give you a written statement showing the outcome and how your share was calculated. If a firm resists putting any of this in writing, that tells you something.

Before You Sign

A short list that surfaces the terms that actually matter.

7. Questions to ask before signing

You are allowed to ask these questions, and a good firm will answer them plainly. Asking is not a sign of distrust; it is how you compare offers on equal terms.

• What is the percentage at each stage, from pre-suit settlement through trial and appeal?
• Who advances the case expenses, and roughly what do cases like mine typically run?
• Are expenses deducted before or after the fee is calculated?
• What do I owe if we lose, including expenses?
• Is my claim a Jones Act case or a Longshore case, and how does that change the fee?
• Will I get a written statement at the end showing how my share was calculated?

It is also fair to ask how much maritime work the firm actually does, since fee terms mean little if the case is mishandled. That tradeoff is explored in a maritime specialist versus a general personal injury firm.

Your Next Move

Compare terms in writing, then decide.

8. What to do next

The answer to what percentage do maritime injury lawyers take turns out to be less useful than the answer to a better question: what do the written terms actually say, and which legal track am I on? Those two answers determine what you keep.

• Request the written agreement from any firm you are considering, before signing
• Compare the stage tiers side by side rather than fixating on one headline number
• Pin down the expense terms, including the order of deduction and loss scenarios
• Confirm which law governs your claim, because a Longshore claim is not a contingency case
• Do not rush the signature, but do not delay the claim either, since deadlines run separately

If you are still weighing options, a no-cost review is a low-risk way to get the fee structure explained in plain terms alongside the merits of the claim itself. More detail on structures is available in how maritime contingency fees are structured.