The Basics

If you are looking for no win no fee solicitors in Adwick-le-Street, the key point is that these arrangements are available across the UK, but not every local firm offers them and not every type of claim will qualify. A no win no fee agreement usually means the solicitor’s payment is linked to whether the claim succeeds, with the exact fees and risks set out in the agreement. To explore whether your Adwick-le-Street enquiry may fit, get a free consultation with First4Lawyers, who can look for a solicitor offering a no-win-no-fee arrangement for your type of case.

Conditional Fee Agreements

No Win No Fee is a term commonly used in the UK to describe Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) between solicitors and their clients. In general terms, a CFA can allow a person to start a claim without paying all legal fees upfront, with some fees becoming payable if the claim succeeds. If the claim is unsuccessful, the client’s payment obligations to their own solicitor may be limited, but there can still be other costs to understand, such as disbursements, insurance premiums, or in some situations the other side’s costs. For that reason, After the Event (ATE) insurance is sometimes discussed as a way to manage certain risks. The wording of the agreement matters, and not all cases can use no win no fee arrangements; family and criminal cases, for example, do not allow CFAs to be used.

Types of Cost Components 

When comparing a No Win No Fee Agreement, it helps to understand the main cost components before assuming there is no financial risk at all:

• Basic Charges or Standard Fee – Fees associated with legal work done on behalf of a client.  Typically based on the number of hours spent and hourly rates associated with the staff involved with case. Different lawyers in Adwick-le-Street will have different fees for their day-to-day work, and these can vary between practices, and between qualified solicitors within a practice.
• Disbursements – Payment for expenses made on behalf of the client including but not limited to court fees, experts’ fees, accident report fees and travelling expenses.
• Success Fee or “Uplift” To compensate for the cost of lost cases, lawyers typically are allowed to add a success fee or ”Uplift” in the CFA.   This is usually a percentage (not more than 100%) of a lawyer’s basic charges that is added to a client’s bill for which they will seek to recover from the other party if they win the claim.
• After the Event (“ATE”) Insurance Premium – Cost of Insurance as part of a no win no fee agreement to indemnify the costs and disbursements of the lawsuit.  Usually purchased at or after the start of the litigation process.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• Because the cost to the client is linked to the outcome of the case.  For an unsuccessful case, there is the possibility that the client pays little or no cost.
• Required disclosure of a CFA to the other party may encourage earlier settlement as the other party’s cost will increase in line with the level of the success fee.
• Any damages awarded to the client will not be eaten up by the success fee, as the success fee will in most cases be payable by the opponent.

Disadvantages

• There is no privilege, nor privacy attached to the funding arrangement in place. The existence of the CFA must be disclosed to the other party at the outset of the litigation and the risk assessment has to be disclosed to the court and if necessary to the other party when costs are assessed.
• A CFA gives the lawyer a financial interest in the litigation and because of this they are inclined to take control of the strategy and resolution of the litigation.
• Unless the client buys ATE to cover the winning party’s costs, the client is still at risk to pay those costs.

To search for a specific solicitor, try the Solicitors Regulation Authority website, which lists all the law firms and people regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Alternatively, if you want to speak about an Adwick-le-Street no win no fee enquiry in general terms, visit our partner First4Lawyers for a free no-obligation chat.