Contingency Fee Agreement

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How is a Contingency Fee Agreement different from a Conditional Fee Agreement?

A conditional fee agreement, commonly known as a “No Win, No Fee” agreement, is where you will usually only be liable for a success fee if your case wins. This will be based on the amount of basic charges for the work undertaken, subject to a capped percentage of the damages awarded to you. If you are successful with your claim, the Solicitor is normally able to recover their basic fees from the opponent.

In contrast, a solicitor may enter into a Contingency Fee Agreement with you if they are unlikely to be able to recover their legal fees, or the recoverable legal fees are likely to be very small. Like a Conditional Fee Agreement, you pay a percentage of the damages awarded to you, but this percentage is likely to be higher, and a fixed percentage of compensation as legal costs will not be recoverable.

With both a Contingency Fee Agreement and a Conditional Fee Agreement, you do not pay any costs for representation unless your case wins. However, you will usually be responsible for payment of disbursements, including expenses incurred in the case, such as court fees and expert fees. In some instances, you may be able to obtain insurance or litigation funding to cover the cost of such expenses.