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The Contingency Fee

Under the American Bar Association’s Model Rules, “A fee may be contingent on the outcome of the matter for which the service is rendered.” The lawyer is paid a percentage of what the client recovers. If nothing is recovered, the lawyer receives no fee.

The terms must be fixed in advance. The agreement must be “in a writing signed by the client” and must state the percentages for “settlement, trial or appeal.” At the end, the lawyer gives the client “a written statement stating the outcome of the matter.”

The client may still owe the expenses of a lost case. The agreement must say so clearly.

The Punch List

Near the end of an American construction project, the contractor prepares a punch list of the items still to be finished or corrected. Contracts usually allow the owner to hold back the final payment until the list is done. One explanation of the name is that a hole was punched next to each item when it was completed.

In everyday speech, a punch list is any list of the last small tasks before a job is finished.

The statement of work

The American SOW closes with acceptance criteria stated as testable facts — the system processes a thousand transactions without error, fifty users complete training and pass assessment, the sponsor signs off.

The guidance is explicit about why: these become the finish line, and everything else is a change order.

The definition of done is written before the work begins, because everyone involved expects the request to grow.

What is a deliverable?

In his What Is a Deliverable in Project Management?, Kermit Burley, of Demand Media, writes: „In project management, a deliverable is a product or service that is given to your client. A deliverable usually has a due date and is tangible, measurable and specific.

A deliverable can be given to either an external or internal customer and satisfies a milestone or due date that is created and produced in the project plan. A deliverable can be a software product, a design document, a training program or other asset that is required by the project plan.“