The Basics

If you are looking for no win no fee solicitors in Standish, the key point is that these arrangements are usually about funding a claim without paying the solicitor’s standard legal fees upfront. Availability still depends on the type of claim, its prospects, and the agreement being offered, so not every Standish solicitor or every legal matter will qualify. To find out whether your enquiry may fit a no-win-no-fee arrangement in Standish, get a free consultation with First4Lawyers, who can help connect you with a solicitor for your specific case.

Many people search for no win no fee after an accident, injury, or stressful dispute because they are worried about legal costs as much as the claim itself. The phrase can sound simple, but it is still worth understanding what may be deducted if a claim succeeds, what costs might be covered by insurance, and what the written agreement says before any arrangement is accepted.

Conditional Fee Agreements

No Win No Fee is a term in the UK commonly used to describe Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) between lawyers and their clients. In general terms, a CFA may allow a person to bring a claim without paying the solicitor’s basic charges as the case goes along, with payment linked to a successful outcome. If the claim is unsuccessful, the client’s payment obligations to their own solicitor are often limited, but there may still be disbursements, insurance issues, or opponent-cost risks depending on the agreement and the type of case. For this reason, clients may be offered “After the Event” (ATE) insurance to help cover certain risks if the claim is lost. The insurance premium and the cost of disbursements may be treated differently from one case to another, so the wording of the agreement matters. Not all types of cases allow no win no fee arrangements. Family and criminal cases do not allow CFAs to be used.

Types of Cost Components 

There are several cost components to be aware of when looking at the benefits, limits, and possible disadvantages of a No Win No Fee Agreement:

• 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 Standish 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.

If you want to check whether a solicitor is regulated, try the Solicitors Regulation Authority website, which lists law firms and individuals regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. For a Standish no win no fee enquiry, you can also visit our partner First4Lawyers for a free no-obligation chat.