• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.3-26
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• 2007

This paper analyzes the effects of asymmetric reimbursement in a delegate model where the lawyers for a citizen and a polluting firm work on a contingent-fee basis. The major findings from the paper are as follows: (i) the asymmetric reimbursement triggers environmental conflicts by increasing the citizens' expected surplus; (ii) it enhances the possibility of settlement by decreasing the magnitude of expected loss less expected surplus; (iii) settlements reduce the total litigation effort levels, thus curtailing the rent dissipation; (iv) The total litigation effort levels increase if the conflicts result in trials rather than settlements.