How Much Does Morgan and Morgan Take From a Settlement?

Morgan & Morgan typically takes about 33% of a settlement when the case resolves before a lawsuit is filed, and closer to 40% when the case moves into litigation or trial.¹² That percentage is the attorney fee alone. Case expenses, medical liens, and unpaid provider bills come out of the same gross settlement, so the check a client actually receives is usually much smaller than “two-thirds of the settlement” would suggest.

The Contingency Percentage and When It Changes

Morgan & Morgan works on contingency, which means no money upfront and no attorney fee unless the case produces a recovery.³ The percentage itself is not fixed. The firm’s own materials note that the rate can vary by location, case complexity, whether the case goes to trial, and the total recovered, with lower percentages sometimes applied to each additional million dollars won.⁴

Some clients have reported rates that fall outside the standard 33/40 split. In complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, clients on cases involving limited insurance policies described contingency rates of 35%.⁵ Those rates sit within general industry norms, which run about 33% pre-litigation and 40% once a suit is filed.⁶

What Else Comes Out of the Settlement

When a case resolves, the firm prepares a closing statement showing every deduction from the gross settlement before the client is paid.⁴ Beyond the attorney fee, the usual line items are:

Case costs the firm advanced during the case, including court filing fees, expert witness and consultant fees, medical record retrieval, deposition transcripts, and postage. These add up quickly in complex matters like trucking or construction accident cases.⁴¹
Medical liens and subrogation claims from health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, or hospitals that paid for injury-related treatment and have a right to be reimbursed from the settlement.⁷⁴
Outstanding medical bills owed to providers, which the firm may hold in trust while negotiating them down.⁴
Personal liens, meaning repayment of any loans the client took out against the anticipated settlement.⁴
A small “delayed cost deposit” held back to cover late-arriving invoices, with any unused portion typically released after 90 days.⁸

Whatever remains is the client’s net payout, sent by check or direct deposit. In most personal injury cases, that net amount is tax-free.⁴

A Sample Settlement Breakdown

No two cases produce the same numbers, but a straightforward example shows how the deductions stack up. Take a $90,000 personal injury settlement with a 33% contingency fee:

Gross settlement: $90,000
Attorney fee at 33%: −$29,700
Case costs: −$2,000
Medical liens: −$15,000
Client net payout: $43,300⁹

Less than half the gross reaches the client. Heavier medical treatment tilts the math further. An illustrative $50,000 settlement with a 33% fee, $2,000 in costs, and a $20,000 medical lien nets the client just $11,500.⁷ One BBB complaint against Morgan & Morgan describes a $25,000 auto accident settlement in which the firm took $8,750 at a 35% rate; after medical bills came out, the client reported receiving $6,670.17, roughly 27 cents on the dollar.⁵

Why Medical Liens Are Often the Biggest Surprise

The attorney fee is predictable. Medical liens are not. Health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, hospitals, and workers’ compensation carriers can all assert a right to be repaid from a settlement for treatment they covered. That process is called subrogation, and it lets the insurer collect from the at-fault party’s payment.⁷

Lien amounts are often negotiable. An attorney can challenge charges for unrelated treatment, dispute a lien’s validity, or invoke doctrines like the “made whole” rule, which says the insurer should not collect until the client has been fully compensated.⁷ Morgan & Morgan’s materials describe holding funds in trust to negotiate medical debts down to “the best possible rates.”⁴ Certain liens resist reduction, though. Medicare and employer-sponsored ERISA health plans carry strong federal protections and are difficult to negotiate down.

State Caps That Limit the Fee

Morgan & Morgan practices in all 50 states, and several of those states cap what any attorney can charge on contingency.

In Florida, where the firm is headquartered, fees above the following levels are presumed excessive: 33⅓% of the first $1 million recovered when the case settles before the defendant files an answer, and 40% of the first $1 million if the case reaches trial or arbitration. On recoveries above $1 million, the rate drops to 30% on the next $1 million and 20% on anything above $2 million. Florida medical malpractice cases carry an even stricter constitutional guarantee: the client keeps at least 70% of the first $250,000 and 90% of anything above that.¹⁰

Other states impose their own sliding scales in medical malpractice cases. New York caps fees at 30% of the first $250,000, scaling down to 10% on amounts over $1.25 million. New Jersey caps fees at 33⅓% of the first $500,000 and drops to 20% on the fourth $500,000. Connecticut limits fees to 33⅓% of the first $300,000, scaling down to 10% above $1.2 million.¹¹ On a very large medical malpractice recovery, the effective percentage can end up well below 33%.

Workers’ compensation has its own fee regime. Florida’s workers’ comp statute sets attorney fees at 20% of the first $5,000 in benefits secured, 15% of the next $5,000, and 10% of the rest, though a 2016 court ruling found that schedule unconstitutional.¹² In practice, most Florida workers’ comp attorneys now charge a flat 25% to 33% on settlements.¹³

What “No Fee If You Lose” Actually Covers

Morgan & Morgan states plainly, “You don’t owe us anything if you don’t win your case. So, we will accept the losses and move on.”³ That guarantee clearly covers the attorney’s contingency percentage. Case costs are a separate question. Retainer agreements in the industry vary, and some specify that filing fees, expert witness fees, and similar expenses must be repaid regardless of outcome.¹ Florida Bar rules require contingency contracts to spell out how costs are handled, and unless the contract says otherwise, a client may be liable for costs even on a loss.¹⁰ Read the cost provision before signing.

Is the Percentage Negotiable?

For most case types, contingency percentages are set by the retainer, not by statute. That means they are negotiable before the agreement is signed. California law actually requires fee agreements to disclose that the fee is “not set by the State Bar” and is negotiable.¹⁴

A lower rate is easier to secure when a case is straightforward, when the client has already gathered evidence, or when the client agrees to pay certain costs directly rather than have them advanced. A sliding-scale fee tied to case stage is another route, so a pre-suit settlement costs less than one reached after trial. Consulting more than one firm creates leverage to compare rates.¹⁵ Once the retainer is signed, the leverage largely disappears. Attorneys have no obligation to renegotiate and rarely agree to do so after significant work has been performed.¹⁶ BBB filings show clients who asked Morgan & Morgan for “discretionary fee reductions” citing hardship or small policy-limit recoveries, and the firm reportedly denied those requests.⁵

How to Keep More of Your Settlement

A few habits before and during a case can meaningfully protect the net payout.

Ask for a full fee breakdown before signing. Get the contingency percentage, how costs are handled, whether costs are owed on a loss, and what the sliding scale looks like if the case moves from pre-litigation to trial.¹
Confirm who gets paid first. The closing statement lists every deduction, and the firm is required to pay medical providers and lien holders before releasing the balance to you.¹⁷
Check your state’s rules. Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut cap fees in certain case types, and your agreement has to comply.
Ask how liens will be negotiated. Every dollar knocked off a medical lien flows directly to your net payout.⁷
Get everything in writing. California requires it; it is good practice anywhere.¹⁴

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Morgan & Morgan. Is Morgan and Morgan Free
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Attorneys for the Injured. Contingency Fee Personal Injury Lawyer Cost
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MacRae Whitley. Understanding Subrogation and Why Your Health Insurance Wants Money Back
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Morgan & Morgan. Workers Compensation Attorney Fees How It Works
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TorHoerman Law. How Are Personal Injury Settlements Paid Out
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The Florida Bar. Consumer Pamphlet on Contingent Fees
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Connecticut General Assembly. Contingency Fee Limits in Medical Malpractice
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Florida Legislature. Florida Statute 440.34
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BDT Law Firm. Are Workers Comp Lawyer Fees Worth It
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Victim’s Lawyer. California Contingency Fee Lawyer No Win No Fee Explained
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Lawyers on Your Side. How to Negotiate Personal Injury Case Fees
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Avvo. Can I Renegotiate the Contingency Fee Contract
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BBB. Morgan and Morgan BBB Complaints