A contingent fee is when an attorney charges dependent upon a successful outcome in the case. It is often agreed to be a percentage of the total recovery to the client. Such fee arrangements are often used in negligence cases and other civil actions but not for criminal defense or divorce actions.
Zapata is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Zapata County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,856 at the 2000 census. As an unincorporated community, Zapata has no municipal government but like all 254 Texas counties has four elected county commissioners chosen by single-member districts and a countywide elected administrative judge. Zapata was named for Colonel Jose Antonio de Zapata, the revolutionary commander who served in the cavalry of the Republic of the Rio Grande, of which the town was a part. Zapata is served by the Zapata County Airport (T86). U.S. Highway 83, running north and south, is the main thoroughfare of Zapata. It intersects Texas State Highway 16, an east-west link, in Zapata.