If you are deciding between employment lawyers and one charges a one-third contingency fee while another charges 40%, should you automatically hire the lawyer charging less?
No.
But you should not automatically hire the lawyer charging more either.
You should compare what you are actually getting.
If two firms offer the same lawyers, experience, legal team, resources, litigation ability, judgment, reputation, and level of representation, choose the lower fee.
Why wouldn’t you?
The real question is whether you are actually comparing the same representation.
Employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, pregnancy discrimination, wrongful termination, and other career-impacting employment cases often arise during one of the most difficult periods of an employee’s professional life.
The case may affect your income, career, reputation, professional relationships, future employment, and financial security.
For one of the most important employment cases of your life, I would not make the decision based primarily on one question:
Who charges the lowest percentage?
I would start with a different question:
- What Am I Trying to Accomplish?
- What matters most to you?
- Are you trying to obtain the strongest financial result reasonably available?
- Do you want to resolve the matter as efficiently as reasonably possible?
- Is a private and confidential resolution important to you?
- Are you concerned about protecting your career and professional reputation?
- Do you want lawyers who understand not only employment law, but the business and career issues surrounding the dispute?
- And if your employer refuses to resolve the matter, do you want a firm prepared to continue through discovery, depositions, motion practice, trial, and, when necessary, appeal?
Those questions should be part of the decision.
So should the fee.
But the fee should not be the entire decision.
One-Third Versus 40%: What Does the Difference Actually Mean?
Some employment lawyers charge a one-third contingency fee. Others charge 40%.
The difference is 6⅔ percentage points.
That is real money.
Assume, for simplicity, that two firms calculate their fees the same way and disregard case expenses.
If a firm charging one-third recovers $100,000, the client receives approximately:
$66,667
before expenses.
For a firm charging 40% to leave the client with approximately the same $66,667, that firm would need to recover approximately:
$111,112
That is approximately 11% more.
Does paying a 40% contingency fee mean a lawyer will obtain an 11% larger recovery?
Of course not.
No lawyer can promise that, and every case is different.
But the math demonstrates an important point:
The lowest contingency percentage does not automatically produce the highest net recovery.
The fee is one variable in the financial decision.
The quality of the representation is another.
You Are Not Hiring a Percentage
You are hiring lawyers.
You are hiring their judgment.
Their experience.
Their ability to develop evidence.
Their understanding of damages.
Their negotiating ability.
Their litigation experience.
Their legal team.
Their resources.
Their reputation.
And their ability to continue if the case becomes difficult.
That is what I would compare.
A lower fee is valuable if you are receiving comparable representation.
But a lower percentage is not automatically a better deal if you are giving up something important in the representation to get it.
Who Will Actually Handle Your Case?
Before signing a retainer, ask:
- Who will actually handle my case?
- Not simply who owns the firm.
- Not who appears in the advertising.
- Not who conducted the initial consultation.
- Who is going to do the work?
- Will a partner or senior litigator be actively involved?
- Will you have a dedicated legal team?
- Who will develop the evidence?
- Who will prepare you for a deposition?
- Who will question the employer’s witnesses?
- Who will argue the motions?
- Who will prepare the case for trial if that becomes necessary?
- And who will be there when something unexpected happens?
You should know the answers before you sign.
At Phillips & Associates, accepted matters are handled by dedicated legal teams led by partners and senior litigators working collaboratively in the office.
Many of the firm’s partners have worked together handling sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation matters for more than a decade.
I believe that matters.
Career-impacting employment litigation should not depend on one lawyer trying to do everything alone.
Go to the Office Before You Hire the Firm
I think prospective clients should do something else that has become increasingly uncommon:
Go to the office.
Meet the lawyers.
Meet the legal team.
See where they work.
Ask who will be responsible for your case.
See how the lawyers interact with one another.
See whether there is actually a substantial legal operation behind the website, advertising, awards, and social-media presence.
Do not rely solely on a website, Zoom meeting, advertisement, or LinkedIn profile when making one of the most important professional decisions of your life.
Interview the firm.
At Phillips & Associates, our lawyers work together in the office every day.
You do not have to take our word for it.
Come see us.
Meet the people who may be responsible for your case.
Then make the decision based on the interview and the representation you believe you will receive.
Not simply the percentage.
Ask How Much Employment Litigation the Firm Has Actually Done
There is a difference between handling employment matters and actually litigating employment cases.
Before hiring a firm, ask:
- How many employment cases has the firm actually litigated?
- How frequently do its lawyers appear in federal and state court?
- Has the firm handled substantial discovery?
- Depositions?
- Summary judgment motions?
- Trials?
- Appeals?
- What happens if your employer refuses to settle?
Phillips & Associates has litigated approximately 2,000 employment cases in federal and state courts.
Our lawyers have appeared before more than 110 United States District Judges and more than 70 United States Magistrate Judges.
The firm has litigated against more than 550 distinct management-side defense firms.
Those numbers do not guarantee an outcome in any future matter.
They demonstrate experience.
And experience becomes particularly important when a case does not go according to plan.
What Happens When the Employer Says No?
A demand letter is not the difficult part of an employment case.
The harder question is:
- What happens when the employer says no?
- What happens if there is no quick settlement?
- Who handles discovery?
- Who reviews the documents?
- Who takes the depositions?
- Who prepares you for yours?
- Who responds if the employer moves for summary judgment?
- Who prepares the witnesses?
- Who tries the case?
- Can the firm continue staffing and financing the litigation?
Not every employment case should go to trial.
Most will not.
But the time to find out whether your lawyers are actually prepared to litigate is before you hire them.
A law firm’s ability to continue if negotiations fail can matter to how the other side evaluates a case.
Who Is Your Employer Going to Hire?
Now ask yourself another question:
Who is your employer going to hire?
If your employer faces a significant employment claim, will its first question be:
Who is the cheapest defense lawyer we can find?
Probably not.
A substantial employer may hire an experienced management-side employment firm.
There may be partners and associates.
An insurance company.
Investigators.
Experts.
Human-resources professionals.
In-house counsel.
And significant resources behind the defense.
Your employer is likely to take its choice of counsel seriously.
You should too.
When a demand, EEOC charge, arbitration, or lawsuit arrives, the employer and its lawyers may be evaluating more than the allegations.
They may also be evaluating plaintiff’s counsel.
Does this firm litigate?
Does it take depositions?
Does it fight motions?
Will it try cases?
Does it have the lawyers and financial resources to keep going?
What happens if the case does not resolve?
That is one reason litigation reputation matters.
Not because reputation guarantees a result.
It does not.
It matters because the other side may have to evaluate what happens if an early resolution cannot be reached.
The Firm You Hire Sends a Message
Your lawyer speaks for you.
The lawyers representing your employer will deal with your counsel.
A mediator may deal with your counsel.
An insurer may evaluate the matter through its lawyers.
If litigation begins, judges and opposing counsel will interact directly with the lawyers you chose.
That is why I believe the firm you hire is, in some respects, a reflection of you and how seriously you are prepared to pursue your case.
For a career-impacting employment matter, who is sitting on your side of the table matters.
Employment-Only Litigation Firm
At Phillips & Associates, we do one thing.
We represent employees in employment matters.
The firm’s record includes:
- Approximately 2,000 employment cases litigated in federal and state courts
- Appearances before more than 110 United States District Judges
- Appearances before more than 70 United States Magistrate Judges
- Litigation against more than 550 distinct management-side defense firms
- More than 200 years of combined employment-law experience
- Jury verdicts, appellate victories, and published employment-law decisions
- Dedicated litigation teams led by partners and senior litigators working collaboratively in the office
- Many partners who have worked together handling sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation matters for more than a decade
- Recognition by Chambers and Partners in the 2026 Chambers USA Guide, Best Law Firms, Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers
Phillips & Associates uses firm employees to work on client matters rather than outsourcing the representation to overseas personnel or independent contractors.
Those are things a prospective client can compare.
Why I Will Not Compete on Being the Cheapest Lawyer
I am sometimes asked to lower our contingency fee because another lawyer has offered to handle the case for less.
I understand the question.
Six and two-thirds percentage points is money.
But I do not believe the right way to build Phillips & Associates is to compete for career-impacting employment cases by trying to be the cheapest law firm.
I believe in the quality of our representation.
I believe in our lawyers.
I believe in our reputation.
I believe in the teams we put behind our cases.
And I believe in the litigation infrastructure we have built over more than 15 years.
That does not mean Phillips & Associates is the right firm for every person or every case.
It means I am comfortable telling a prospective client:
Compare us
Compare our lawyers.
Compare our team.
Compare our litigation record.
Compare our experience.
Compare our resources.
Compare our reputation.
Go to the office and meet us.
Then compare the fee.
And make the decision you believe is best for you.
Should You Hire the Cheaper Employment Lawyer?
Maybe.
If, after interviewing the firms, you believe the lawyer charging one-third offers the same or better lawyers, team, experience, resources, litigation ability, judgment, and representation, then the lower fee may be the better decision.
But do the comparison first.
Before signing, ask:
- Who will actually handle my case?
- Will I have a dedicated legal team?
- Does the firm focus on employment law?
- How much employment litigation has the firm actually handled?
- Who has the firm litigated against?
- What happens if my employer refuses to settle?
- Does the firm have the resources to keep going?
- Can I go to the office and meet the people who may handle my case?
And then:
What is the contingency fee?
The fee matters.
But for one of the most important employment cases of your life, it should not be the only thing that matters.
Compare the lawyers. Compare the team. Compare the litigation record. Compare the resources. Compare the reputation. Then compare the fee.
Then decide who you want representing you.
Who you hire matters.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.