What Is a Contingency? A contingency is a potential occurrence of a negative event in the future, such as an economic recession, natural disaster, fraudulent activity, terrorist attack, or a pandemic.
In a contingency contract, the task defines exactly what behavior a person must engage in to access the reward. It should include what needs to be done, who must do it, when it must be done and details with how it must be done. It should be very clear and specific for all parties.
For example, if you sell your apples from your orchard when the trees are yet to produce apples, the apples are a contingent good.
Contingencies. Contingent contracts, like contingencies themselves, cannot occur unless a certain condition is met. For instance, the sale of a home cannot take place without a prior home inspection, and an aircraft cannot leave the hangar without a thorough walk-around inspection by the pilot.
The average contingency rate falls between 20-40%, with most lawyers charging around 33% to 35% of the total amount recovered in a case. The exact percentage can vary depending on the complexity of the case, the lawyer's experience, and the stage at which the case is resolved.