No, not all no-win, no-fee solicitors charge a success fee because not all type of no-win, no-fee agreements attract a success fee.

There are two types of no-win, no fee agreements that solicitors work under. Namely, conditional fee agreements and contingency fee agreements.

Conditional fee agreements
A conditional fee agreement is defined under s58(2)(a) of the Court and Legal Services Act 1990. It is an agreement whereby the solicitor and client agree that the client will only be liable for the solicitor’s legal fees if the client succeeds with their claim or defends it successfully.

It is available for both contentious (where proceedings have begun at court) and non-contentious proceedings. If the client loses, he does not pay the solicitor’s legal fees but if they win, they pay more than the solicitor’s normal fees.

This is because they will pay the solicitor’s success fee in addition to their hourly rate. The success fee is a percentage uplift based on the solicitor’s normal hourly rate, up to a maximum uplift of 100%.

Please note that if you are successful with your claim, you may be able to recover the majority of your costs for legal fees from your opponent.

Contingency fee agreements

This type of agreement should be carefully distinguished from a conditional fee agreement. In a contingency fee agreement, the solicitor agrees to take a percentage of the sum that they recover on behalf of the client. This sum is obviously only payable if the client is successful with their claim. If they are not, the client is not liable to pay any of the solicitor’s legal fees.

In assessing the percentage of the success fee under a conditional fee agreement, or the percentage to take from compensation in a contingency fee agreement, a solicitor will consider a number of factors. These include:

- the complexity of the case
- the client’s prospects of success
- the amount of time it will take for the case to reach trial
- the level of compensation the client is likely to receive if successful with their claim

If you want to know if you are eligible for a contingency fee agreement or a conditional fee agreement, you can contact a no-win, no-fee solicitor today for legal advice.

If you require further legal advice regarding your personal injury claim, get in touch with Contact Accident Claims today. We can help you to find the right no-win, no-fee solicitor or no-win, no-fee lawyer for your needs

Last Updated on 29/08/2011





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