The Wisconsin Contingent Fee Practice Study
The information discussed in this article was collected by Prof.
Herbert M. Kritzer as part of the National Science Foundation funded
Wisconsin Contingent Fee Practice Study. The data collection involved a
fall 1995 mail survey, direct observation during winter 1995-96 and
interviews conducted in summer and fall 1996.
The sample for the mail survey of Wisconsin contingent practitioners
was based upon the State Bar of Wisconsin Litigation Section mailing
list. The survey was executed for Prof. Kritzer by the University of
Wisconsin Survey Center in a manner designed to preserve respondent
confidentiality. A total of 511 useable questionnaires were returned,
constituting a 48 percent response rate. Most of the information in this
article draws upon the survey data.
The data collection also involved full-time observation of lawyers at
work by Prof. Kritzer, who spent approximately one month in each of
three different contingent fee practices. While present in each
practice, Prof. Kritzer's formal status was that of a paralegal, and in
each practice he provided some assistance with research and other
activities. All of the practices were within a one-hour driving distance
of Madison, Wis. The practices were chosen to reflect different types of
settings: Two were practices concentrating in contingent fee cases, one
relatively high volume and one low volume; the third was a mixed trial
or court practice in which contingent fee work constituted about 20
percent of the practice's work. The specific practices were chosen based
upon a combination of personal contacts and suggestions by persons
knowledgeable about local practitioners. Only one practice that was
originally contacted declined to participate.
Semi-structured interviews with approximately 50 contingent fee
practitioners, insurance defense counsel and current or retired
insurance adjusters also provided data. The plaintiffs' lawyers
interviewed were selected from directories and yellow page listings
covering an area within about 100 miles of Madison. Defense counsel or
firms were identified by the plaintiffs' lawyers, and insurance
adjusters were identified by defense counsel.
An extended version of this article, "Contingent Fee Lawyers as
Gatekeepers in the American Civil Justice System," plus two additional
papers from the study ("Rhetoric and Reality ... Uses and Abuses ...
Contingencies and Certainties: The American Contingent Fee in Operation"
and The Wages of Risk: The Returns of Contingent Fee Practice") are
available from the Institute for Legal Studies, U.W. Law School, 975
Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706; telephone (608) 263-2545.
Wisconsin Lawyer
