A Conditional Fee Agreement: What it is and what to look out for.

A Conditional Fee Agreement (“CFA”) is an arrangement between you and your solicitor, agreeing to share the risk of litigation by offsetting the initial legal costs. Part, or sometimes all of the solicitor’s fees will only be payable by you in the event of success and can often be recovered from the other side. Even upon success, recoverability from the other side is not always an option. This is something you must be prepared for. CFA’s have come under an enormous amount of scrutiny, which was recently highlighted in a case involving Frank Warren, a well-known boxing promoter, and his former solicitor. Frank Warren went to court in 2017 to argue against his former solicitor after they requested their full fee. He argued that the former solicitor had agreed on a CFA and he wasn’t under any obligation to pay the balance of their fee. Frank Warren lost his case.

• Frank Warren entered into two CFA’s with his former solicitor in relation to: (1) a claim for breach of contract; and (2) a claim of defamation.
• Despite his success in both cases, Mr Warren attempted to avoid paying the balance of his solicitor’s fee, as per their contractual arrangement set out in the CFA.
• Mr Warren’s argument was that he did not recover any damages or costs from the defendant due to their bankruptcies and therefore given that he had not received any compensation, he did not believe the fees due to the former solicitors were owed.
• Mr Warren, to his own detriment, admitted that he did not read the documentation he was asked to sign.

1. Assess the merits of your claim;
2. Review the likelihood of recovery i.e. whether the defendant is able to make payment of the compensation sought (if applicable) and/or make payment of any costs that they may be ordered to pay by the Court;
3. Discuss various fee structures that may be available to you;
4. Ensure that you understand the fee structure on the table.

GRIFFIN LAW – TRANSPARENT FEES. TENACIOUS LAWYERS. TRUSTED PARTNERS.

By Griffin Law | 2022-02-15T16:11:27+00:00 May 25th, 2018 | Helpful Guidance | 0 Comments