Private funding + Conditional fees

• Private funding

  • pay for legal advice from a solicitor/barrister
• Solicitors: have offices in most town, may specialise in certain areas of work

  person has an usual problem - research to find the right firm
• solicitors:

  • charge an hourly fee, can be expensive to obtain legal advice
  • Solicitor: not able to give a fixed fee, depends on amount of hours put in/ how easy to gain evidence
  • whether a settlement is reached, case has to go to trial, specialist barrister is needed
  • in some areas of civil law: possible to instruct: barrister under the Direct Access Scheme
• Conditional Fee Agreement

  • solicitor can enter into a written CFA
  • particularly used in perjury claims, but cannot be used in family or criminal cases
• CFA

  • ensures: client pays solicitor if they win the case
  • place a cap - maximum on amount solicitor could charge
  • if case lost: solicitor cannot claim any costs - usually agree if there is 75% chance of success
• CFA

  • agreement: contain a 'success fee' clause - added fee entitled to if the client's case becomes successful
  • amount of success fee determined by: complexity, risk, percentage of amount of compensation recovered
  • if client wins, cannot claim from the loser in addition to their costs
  • loser pays: winner's legal costs 'After the event insurance policy'