THE CONCEPT OF “SUCCESS FEE”

Introduction: As legal costs continue to rise, alternative fee arrangements that help increase access to justice and incentivize quality legal representation warrant analysis from various perspectives. There are ethical concerns that lawyers potentially undermine client interests by prioritizing quicker settlements that secure a fee, rather than thoroughly pursuing the maximum possible recovery through protracted litigation. This article examines the legal nature of such a form of attorney compensation as the «success fee», studies its positive and negative aspects, as well as analyzes the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the experience of other countries regarding its application. The success fee can also incentivize lawyers to maximize their efforts. It is worth noting that certain historical moments are also highlighted, which help understand where this concept originated. The approaches of domestic and foreign legislators to including a «success fee» provision as a method of calculating a lawyer's fee in a legal aid agreement are analyzed. A significant part of the article is devoted to analyzing the law enforcement practice of Ukrainian courts and the European Court of Human Rights, in particular regarding restrictions on determining the amount of such a fee. The success fee concept has sparked ethical debates around potential excessive lawyer compensation, stirring up litigation, proprietary interests in claims, and adequate client counseling. Regulations aim to balance access to justice benefits against these ethical concerns. Overall, the article offers a comprehensive perspective on the success fee concept by synthesizing legal theory, comparative law analysis, and judicial treatment of this form of legal fee structuring. Objective. The aim of this study is to analyze the regulation and practical application of the success fee concept. To refer to international case law in order to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of this issue. Materials and Methods. The research materials include: 1) regulatory framework for studying the success fee issue; 2) works of domestic and foreign scholars; 3) cases of the European Court of Human Rights. In the research process, the following scientific methods were used: doctrinal (involving interpretation and synthesis of applicable laws, rules and judicial precedents); analysis and synthesis (to characterize the lawyer's activities during legal assistance). Results. The scientific article explores the historical aspect of the formation of the success fee. It defines it as a form of payment for legal assistance, which in turn has certain advantages and disadvantages. The main conditions of such an agreement are specified, according to which, if there is no result — there will be no success. The scholars who support the position for the existence of such a calculation method are highlighted. Prospects. In further scientific research, it is proposed to focus on the procedure for legislative consolidation of the form of agreement with this concept, as well as to provide for the concept of «success fee».