Transcript Legal Funding

● CABx were set up in 1938 and there are now around 1000 in the UK.
● They provide general advice, provide advice on some legal matters.
● Solicitors may attend a bureaux to run a drop-in clinic once a week or fortnight.
● Free, non-means tested, local legal services.
● It’s aim is to provide
“ a first class solicitor’s service to the people… a service which is easily
accessible, not intimidating, to which they can turn to for advice as the would to
their family doctor, or as someone can afford it would turn to his family solicitor.”
Funding can be a problem for Law Centres, although the Community Legal
Service has given funding for some centres.
● A free half hour first interview.
● Accident Legal Advice Service and Accident Line
● The bar runs the Free Representation Unit. More than 2,000 cases a year are
dealt with by this unit.
Another way of funding a court case is by legal insurance. A small additional fee will
often be charged to add legal cover onto insurance products.
● ‘After-the-event’ insurance can be purchased so if a case is lost the insurance
company pays the other side’s legal costs.
● Premiums for such insurance are normally quite expensive and paid in advance.
● The law allows for the premium to be claimed from the losing party.
It is difficult to estimate how long a court case will last and how much it will cost. A
conditional fee agreement (CFA) can be used in all civil cases except family cases.
CFA cannot be used in criminal cases.
● The solicitor and client agree on what such a case would normally cost.
● A success rate will also be agreed to paid if the solicitor wins the case.
● ‘No win, no fee’
● Citizen’s Advice Bureaux
● Law Centres
● Other advice agencies such as;
- Schemes run by lawyers; and
- Insurance
● Can be upto 100% of the normal fee, but is often capped at around 25% of the
client’s award.
● Rates can vary depending on when the case is settled, the earlier the case is
settled the less the success fee.
● If the other party refuses to settle, and then loses, the claimant can claim the
success fee back from them.
● Provide access to justice, particularly for PI and defamation cases.
● CFAs are fair, allow the claimant to claim back the success fee and insurance
premiums.
● Clients will feel confident in the solicitor’s commitment to the case.
Research in 1998 by Sheffield University found that:
● the poorest clients could not afford to pay insurance premiums or other expenses
such as medical reports, claiming such fees back could take years;
● those with cases who are not certain to win would find it more difficult to find
willing solicitor’s to represent them;
● it can be difficult to estimate costs of cases, may cost more than estimated.
In 2004 a report, No Win, No Fee, No Chance by James Sandbach, published by the
Citizen’s Advice Bureaux identified several further problems with CFAs.
● Consumers are subjected to high pressure sales techniques;
● Few consumers understand the risks of CFAs, there may be hidden and
unpredictable costs;
● Solicitors do not want to take on high-risk claims or low-value claims.
1.Name two ‘not-for-profit’ advice agencies.
2. Name two advice schemes run by legal professionals.
3. Briefly explain what is meant by a conditional fee arrangement.
4. What is a ‘success fee’?
5. Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of CFAs.
1(a) describe both publicly funded legal representation in civil cases and conditional
fee arrangements.
(b) Discuss the problems of providing access to justice to all those who need a remedy
in civil cases.