What are no win no fee solicitors?

Most people are familiar with the phrase no win no fee but how many understand the true meaning of the work done on a no win no fee agreement?

No win no fee agreements are most commonly entered into by Injury Claims Solicitors and Employment Law Solicitors but can cover a wide range of other legal work.

A no win no fee arrangement can be by a conditional fee agreement or by a contingency fee. Under a conditional fee agreement should the claim be successful the solicitor's fees are paid by the losing party and are separate from any damages the successful party may receive. Under a contingency fee the solicitor's fees will usually be paid as a percentage of the damages awarded. Under both types of arrangement should the case not be successful then the solicitor running the claim will not receive any fees.

By entering a no win no fee agreement a client will avoid paying the often expensive fees of the solicitor conducting their matter in the event there claim is unsuccessful. However, should their case not succeed they will still usually be liable for the costs incurred by those other than their own solicitor. They will have to pay for the disbursements incurred during the case, for example, in a personal injury claim these will usually include the cost of obtaining a medical report. In addition they could also be liable for the legal costs of the other party known as adverse costs.

Insurance policies can protect a client from the costs involved in litigation. This may be either before the event insurance (through a policy in place prior to the claim) or after the event insurance (through a policy obtained after the claim has started).

All no win no fee arrangements are strictly regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. In the case of Injury Claims Solicitors the Contingency fee Agreement is a set agreement that may not be altered by the individual solicitor or firm.

Obviously by entering a no win no fee agreement the solicitor is taking the risk of not receiving payment for any of the work done on the case. Should a claim proceed all the way to trial the work undertaken can be considerable and many hours of work will not be remunerated.

In recognition of the risk of receiving no fees a solicitor working under a conditional fee agreement is entitled to claim additional fees on successful claims by way of a success fee. This success fee must reflect the risks of not succeeding with the claim. The greater the risk of losing the claim the greater success fee may be claimed. For most Road Traffic Accident cases that do not result in a trial the success fee is set at 12.5%.


--
Injury Claim Solicitor