One type of fee arrangement for a lawyer where the lawyer gets paid a percentage of the award that is obtained for the client as a result of wining a case. This is an alternate method of payment to an hourly fee or fixed fee and is most common in personal injury cases. The client pays nothing for representation and a successful lawyer will usually receive between 25% and 40% of the amount recovered. This is also common in debt recovery and collection practices. Criminal lawyers may not use such an arrangement. All contingency fee agreements must be contained in a signed writing.