Civil Lit attorneys mostly use a contingency contract. If there is a settlement, the attorney takes what they said they’d charge in the contract, and the client gets the rest. But, the client does not spend a dime to retain, have representation, court fees, etc. The firm puts up all this money with the hopes that they’ll win a profit.

If no settlement is agreed upon and it goes to trial, the attorney could lose quite a bit. I served on a civil jury where the cost for a forensic actuary alone was 10k/day. They were suing for millions and we awarded him nothing (he was a lying mfer). His attorneys were out quite a bit of money. But, shame on them for turning down the settlement, agreeing to trial bc they genuinely thought this guy was going to get sympathy from the jury.