Conditional fee agreement

(1) Firm

and

(2) Client
THIS AGREEMENT is made on [insert date]

PARTIES

(1) [insert name of Firm], the solicitors of [insert address] (the Firm)

(2) You [insert name of Client] of [insert address of client] (the Client)

THE PARTIES AGREE:

1 Definitions and interpretation

1.1 Definitions

In this Agreement, unless otherwise provided:

Advocacy means appearing for you at court hearings;

After-the-event Insurance means any insurance policy you buy to provide

indemnity against the risk of paying our
Disbursements and/or the Opposing Party's legal
costs and disbursements;

Base Costs means our charges for the work we do on your

Claim (to include any applicable tax thereon)
calculated in accordance with section 4;

Claim means your claim as set out in section 2.1,

whether or not court Proceedings are issued;

Counter Claim means a claim the Opposing Party makes against

you in response to your Claim;

Damages means money you Win whether by a court

decision or settlement;

Disbursements means payments we make or agree to make on

your behalf in the course of the Claim, including
the fees of barristers who do not have a
conditional fee agreement (CFA) with us, and any
applicable tax thereon;

Insurance Premium means the cost of any After-the-event Insurance

policy;

Interim Damages means money a court says the Opposing Party

must pay or the Opposing Party agrees to pay
while waiting for a settlement or the court's final
decision;

Interim Dispute means a dispute or matter arising in the course of

the Claim that is the subject of an interim
application, whether or not it proceeds to an

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 Interim Hearing;

Interim Hearing means a court hearing that is not final;

Lien means our right to keep all papers, documents,

money or other property held on your behalf until
all money due to us is paid. A Lien may be applied
after this Agreement ends;

Lose means the court has dismissed your Claim or you

have stopped it on our advice. ‘Lose’ for the
purposes of an Interim Dispute is an order made in
favour of the Opposing Party, including an order or
agreement to pay the Opposing Party’s costs of
the Interim Dispute;

Opposing Party means the party against whom the Claim is made
by the Client;

Part 36 Offer or Payment shall have the meaning set out in Part 36 of the
Civil Procedure Rules 1998;

Paying Party means the party that is liable to pay costs to you
whether pursuant to a Court Order or under the
terms of an agreement with you. The ‘Paying
Party’ will usually be the Opposing Party;

Proceedings includes any sort of proceedings (and is not

confined to proceedings in a court) whether started
or contemplated, subject to the terms of section 58
of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;

Success Fee means the percentage by which Base Costs are to

be increased in the event of a Win, together with
VAT thereon as appropriate. The Success Fee will
be as set out in section 5.1. The Success Fee
cannot exceed 100% of the Base Costs;

Trial means the final contested hearing or the contested

hearing of any issue to be tried separately and a
reference to a Claim concluding at Trial includes a
Claim settled after the Trial has started;

VAT means value-added tax;

Win as the context requires, a final decision made in

the Claim, whether by a decision of a Court or by
agreement with the Opposing Party, whereby you
become entitled to Damages or become entitled to
be paid all or part of the costs of the Claim by the
Opposing Party. A final decision is one where the
Opposing Party is denied permission to appeal, or
does not appeal in time, or loses their appeal. A
‘Win’ for the purposes of an Interim Dispute is an

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 order made in your favour including an order or
agreement to pay your costs of the Interim
Dispute.

1.2 Interpretation

Unless the context otherwise requires:

1.2.1 the singular includes the plural and vice versa;

1.2.2 references to persons include individuals, un-incorporated bodies, government

entities, companies and corporations;

1.2.3 references to legislation include any modification or re-enactment thereof;

1.2.4 section headings do not affect their interpretation; and

1.2.5 general words are not limited by example.

2 What is covered by this Agreement

2.1 Your claim for [describe cause of action with sufficient certainty][ against [insert name of
Opposing Party] (the Opposing Party)].

2.2 Any application for pre-action or non-party disclosure.

2.3 Any appeal you make, or any appeal made by the Opposing Party against an interim order or
an assessment of costs.

2.4 Any Proceedings you take to enforce a judgment, order or agreement.

2.5 Negotiations about and/or a court assessment of the costs of this Claim.

3 What is not covered by this Agreement

3.1 Any Counter Claim against you.

3.2 Any appeal you make, or any appeal made by the Opposing Party, against the final judgment
or order.

3.3 [Insert any other exclusion.]

4 Base Costs

4.1 Base Costs are calculated on the basis of an hourly rate as follows:

[Insert name or description of fee earner] £[Insert hourly rate]

[Insert name or description of fee earner] £[Insert hourly rate]

[Insert name or description of fee earner] £[Insert hourly rate]

[Insert name or description of fee earner] £[Insert hourly rate]

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4.2 [Short outgoing letters and routine phone calls are charged at 1/10 of an hour. All other work
is timed in six-minute units and charged at the relevant hourly rate.]

4.3 We will add VAT at the prevailing rate.

4.4 We will review our hourly rates on a [insert period, eg yearly] basis. This is usually done each
[insert month]. We will give you advance notice of any change to our hourly rates.

5 The Success Fee

5.1 The Success Fee is set at [insert amount which cannot exceed 100]% of our Base Costs.

5.2 The Success Fee percentage reflects all relevant factors as they reasonably appear to us on
the date this Agreement is entered in to, including, but not limited to:

5.2.1 our assessment of your prospects of success, ie:

(a) [insert any comments on prospects of success]

(b) [insert any comments on prospects of success]
(c) [insert any comments on prospects of success]
5.2.2 the fact that if you Lose, we will not be paid anything;

5.2.3 the fact that if you Win, we will not be paid until the end of your Claim;

5.2.4 our arrangements with you about paying Disbursements;

5.2.5 [insert any other relevant matters.]

5.3 The Success Fee cannot be more than 100% of our Base Costs but otherwise there is no
maximum limit on the amount of the Success Fee.

5.4 [However, we have agreed to limit the Success Fee to [insert amount]% of the total amount of
any Damages [you receive OR to which you become entitled, whether by a court decision or
settlement]. This is known as the Success Fee cap and it:

5.4.1 [includes OR does not include] any applicable tax; and

5.4.2 does not include the success fee of any barrister who is acting on a CFA.]

5.5 If there is anything you wish to discuss about the Success Fee, please contact us before
signing this Agreement.

6 Disbursements

6.1 Disbursements are payments we make or agree to make on your behalf in the course of the
Claim, eg court fees, expert fees, travel expenses and the fees of barristers who do not have
a CFA with us.

6.2 If you receive Interim Damages, we may require you to pay any Disbursements we have
incurred up to that point and a reasonable amount for our future Disbursements.

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7 Paying us if you Win

7.1 If you Win your Claim, you pay our Base Costs, our Disbursements and a Success Fee
[(subject to the cap in section 5.4)] together with the Insurance Premium for any After-the-
event Insurance you take out.

7.2 Normally, you can claim part of our Base Costs and Disbursements from the Opposing Party.
You provide us with your irrevocable agreement to pursue such a Claim on your behalf. If we
and the Opposing Party cannot agree the amount, the court will decide how much you can
recover. You remain liable for paying our Base Costs and Disbursements in full, regardless of
any amounts recovered from the Opposing Party.

7.3 You cannot Claim from the Opposing Party the Success Fees or the Insurance Premium for
any After-the-event Insurance you take out. You, not the Opposing Party, pay our Success
Fee [(subject to the cap in section 5.4)] and any Insurance Premium.

7.4 Section 9 deals with the payment of barristers’ fees if you Win.

7.5 You agree that any Damages due to you from the Opposing Party will be payable to us, and:

7.5.1 we may deduct from your Damages any Base Costs, Disbursements and Success
Fee due to us plus any barristers’ fees and Insurance Premium payable;

7.5.2 if we ask you to, you will sign a form of authority allowing us to do this.

7.6 You agree to pay into a designated account any cheque received by you or by us from the
Opposing Party and made payable to you. Out of the money, you agree to let us take our
Base Costs, Disbursements, Success Fee, barristers fees, the Insurance Premium and VAT.

7.7 You have the right to apply to the court for assessment of our costs, including the Success
Fee. If you make such an application, the court will have regard to all the relevant factors as
they reasonably appeared to us when this Agreement was entered into or varied.

7.8 You agree that after Winning, the reasons for setting the Success Fee at the amount stated
may be disclosed to the court and any other person required by the court.

7.9 We are allowed to keep any interest the Opposing Party pays on any costs.

7.10 If the Opposing Party does not pay any Damages or costs owed to you, we have the right to
take recovery action in your name to enforce a judgment, order or agreement. The costs of
this action become part of the Base Costs.

7.11 It may be that the Opposing Party makes a Part 36 Offer or Payment that you reject on our
advice, and you pursue your Claim to Trial or settlement where you recover Damages that are
less than or equal to the Part 36 Offer or Payment. If this happens, you will still have Won
your case but:

7.11.1 we will charge our Base Costs [and Success Fee] for the period up to 21 days after
we received notice of the Part 36 Offer or Payment and thereafter we will [charge our
Base Costs but not add a Success Fee OR not claim any Base Costs or Success
Fee];

7.11.2 you will remain liable for our Disbursements and the fees of any barrister who is not
acting on a no-win-no-fee basis; and

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 7.11.3 you will usually be ordered to pay the Opposing Party's costs from 21 days after the
offer or payment was received—After-the-event Insurance may be available to cover
any such order and this is explained at section 14 below.

8 If you Lose

8.1 If you Lose, you do not pay our Base Costs or Success Fee, but you will be liable to pay:

8.1.1 our Disbursements;

8.1.2 the fees of any barrister who did not enter into a CFA with us; and

8.1.3 the Opposing Party’s costs.

8.2 You may be able to take out an insurance policy against some or all of this risk. This is
explained at section 14 below.

9 Payment for advocacy and barristers’ fees

9.1 The cost of advocacy and any other work by us, or by any solicitor agent on our behalf, forms
part of our Base Costs.

9.2 Barristers’ fees are not included in our Base Costs. If it becomes necessary to instruct a
barrister, we will discuss with you the choice of barrister and arrangements for payment of the
barrister’s fees, including whether the barrister is willing to enter into a CFA.

9.3 Barristers who enter into a conditional fee agreement

9.3.1 If the barrister is willing to do so, we will enter into a separate CFA with them. This will
usually be on the basis that:

(a) if you Win, the barrister will charge a success fee in addition to their fees—
the barrister's Success Fee will be set out in the separate CFA we make with
them; and
(b) if you Lose, the barrister will not charge any fee or will charge a reduced fee.
9.3.2 If you Win, you are normally entitled to recover some or all of any barrister’s fees from
the Opposing Party but you remain liable to pay the barrister’s fees in full. In addition,
you will not be entitled to recover the barrister’s Success Fee and will have to pay this
in full.

9.3.3 We will discuss the barrister's Success Fee with you before we instruct them.

9.4 Barristers who do not enter into a conditional fee agreement

9.4.1 We may not be able to find a suitable barrister who is willing to act on CFA or you
may decide that you do not wish to pay a success fee to the barrister. If so, it will be
necessary to instruct the barrister on the basis that you are liable to pay their fee in
full, Win or Lose.

9.4.2 If you Win, you will normally be entitled to recover all or part of any barrister’s fee
from the Opposing Party but you remain liable to pay their fees in full.

9.4.3 If you Lose, you must pay the barrister’s fees in full.

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10 Interim costs

10.1 If on the way to Winning or Losing you are awarded any costs, by agreement or court order,
we are entitled to payment of those costs, together with a Success Fee on those costs if you
Win overall.

11 Our responsibilities

11.1 We must:

11.1.1 always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court;

11.1.2 explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action;

11.1.3 give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement;

11.1.4 give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your Claim;

11.1.5 [insert any other responsibilities.]

12 Your responsibilities

12.1 You must:

12.1.1 give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly;

12.1.2 not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way;

12.1.3 not deliberately mislead us;

12.1.4 co-operate with us;

12.1.5 go to any court hearing;

12.1.6 [insert any other responsibilities.]

13 Termination

13.1 If you terminate the Agreement

13.1.1 You can end this Agreement at any time. [Unless you have a right to cancel this
Agreement and do so within the 14-day time limit, we OR We] then have the right to
decide whether you must:

(a) pay our Base Costs and our Disbursements, including barristers' fees but not
the Success Fee when we ask for them; or
(b) pay our Base Costs and our Disbursements, including barristers' fees and the
Success Fees if you go on to Win your Claim.
13.2 If we terminate the Agreement

13.2.1 We can end this Agreement if you do not keep to your responsibilities in section 12.
We then have the right to decide whether you must:

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 (a) pay our Base Costs and our Disbursements, including barristers' fees but not
the Success Fee when we ask for them; or
(b) pay our Base Costs and our Disbursements, including barristers' fees and the
Success Fee if you go on to Win your Claim.
13.3 We can end this Agreement if we believe you are unlikely to Win. If this happens, you will not
have to pay our Base Costs but you will have to pay our Disbursements, including the fees of
any barrister who does not have a CFA with us.

13.4 We can end this Agreement if you reject our opinion about making a settlement with the
Opposing Party. This includes a situation where you reject our advice to accept a Part 36
Offer or Payment made by the Opposing Party. You must then:

13.4.1 pay our Base Costs and our Disbursements, including barristers' fees; and

13.4.2 pay the Success Fee if you go on to Win your Claim.

13.5 [If you ask us to get a second opinion from a specialist solicitor outside our Firm, we will do
so. You pay the cost of a second opinion unless we agree with you to the contrary.]

14 After-the-event Insurance

14.1 You may be able to take out an insurance policy against the risk of paying Disbursements if
you Lose, or some or all of the Opposing Party's costs. This is called After-the-event-
Insurance.

14.2 If you Win, you will be responsible for paying the Insurance Premium for any After-the-event
Insurance you take out and you cannot claim any of the costs from the Opposing Party.

14.3 If you Lose, the premium [state what happens, eg is self-insured and therefore not payable].
Full details are contained in the insurance policy documents. We will give further information
about insurance to you so you can decide whether you wish to take out insurance.

15 Death

15.1 If you die before your Claim is concluded, this Agreement automatically ends and we will be
entitled to recover our Base Costs and Disbursements up to the date of your death from your
estate.

15.2 If your personal representatives wish to continue your Claim, we may offer them a new CFA,
as long as they agree to pay the Success Fee on our Base Costs from the date of this
Agreement.

16 What happens after the Agreement ends

16.1 After this Agreement ends, we may apply to have our name removed from the record of any
Proceedings in which we are acting, unless we enter into another form of funding with you.

16.2 We have the right to preserve our Lien, unless another solicitor working for you undertakes to
pay us what we are owed under this Agreement including a Success Fee if you Win.

17 Variation

17.1 No amendment or variation of this Agreement will be valid unless confirmed in writing by an
authorised signatory of each party.

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18 Miscellaneous

18.1 The parties acknowledge and agree that this Agreement is not a Contentious Business
Agreement within the terms of the Solicitors Act 1974.

19 Signatures

AGREED by the parties

Signed by the Firm: ……………………………………………….

Signed by the Client: ………………………………………………….

Dated: ……………………………………………………………………

Note: We are not bound to act on a conditional fee basis until both you and we have
signed this Agreement.