每日法律英语词条（17）：Contingency fees（成功酬金/胜诉分成）

Contingency fees refers to an arrangement between lawyer and client in a civil lawsuit in which the payment of attorney’s fees is conditioned upon the successful out come of the case.

成功酬金（也叫胜诉分成）是指律师和委托人之间达成的一项协议，约定律师费的支付取决于案件最后是否胜诉。（锦曦注：在律师与其当事人达成的协议中，律师允诺代表当事人进行索赔，并从索赔所得的赔偿金中按一定比例分成，以此作为律师费）

Contingency fees are considered to be valid except where prohibited by law, considered to be against public policy, or obtained by fraud, mistake, or duress. For example, contingent-free agreements are not permitted in criminal cases, and in most jurisdictions they are not permitted in divorce or alimony proceedings.

成功酬金（的约定）被认为是有效的，除非法律禁止，或者该约定违反公共政策、又或者该约定的达成是通过欺诈、错误或者胁迫实现的。例如在刑事案件订立这种合同是非法的，大部分法域内，离婚或者赡养费的案件中也不允许订立这种合同(可参见全美律师协会《模范律师职业行为规则》〔ABA, Model Rules of Professional Conduct〕)。

The U.S. Supreme Court has observed: “Fees for legal services in litigation may be either ‘certain’ or ‘contingent’ (or some hybrid of the two). A fee is certain if it is payable without regard to the outcome of the suit; it is contingent if the obligation to pay depends on a particular result’s being obtained. (City of Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 563 [1992]).

最高法院指出:在诉讼中法律服务的费用既可以是“确定的”也可以是“偶然的”（或者两者混合），如果费用并不取决于案件的结果，则这种费用是确定的，如果服务费的支付义务是否成就取决于案件的特定结果，则该费用是偶然的。

The fee must be considered reasonable and not excessive, and courts may and do examine contingent-fee arrangements to determine whether they are reasonable. Contingency fees raise ethical problems for lawyers, who are generally not supposed to have a property interest in litigation they bring on behalf of their clients. Contingent-fee arrangements are an exception to this rule.

成功酬金应该是合理的，而不能过高。法院可能以及确实会审查成功酬金合同，以确定是否合理。一般而言，律师不应在他们所代理的诉讼中有财产利益，成功酬金打破了这个规则，这给律师带来了（职业）伦理问题。

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