Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

There are no rules. It is whatever you can negotiate with your attorney. An attorney weighs a lot of factors when deciding if she or he should take a case. That includes the client's ability to pay versus whether the attorney needs to shell out money from the attorney's own pocket for a contingency case. An attorney also might calculate that the case might not be a foregone winner, but if the client is willing to invest the client's own money in the outcome, the attorney would be willing to invest time as it might be worth a shot. However, that might not be true if the attorney must risk the attorney's own money on a 50:50 (or lower) case.