Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)

Transcription

1 Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) This agreement is a binding legal contract between you and your solicitor/s. Before you sign, please read everything carefully. This agreement must be read in conjunction with the document: CFA: What You Need to Know, which is attached to, and forms part of this agreement. Agreement date: Between: I/We, the solicitor/s Quick Solicitors of 44 Broadway, London E15 1XH And: You, the client 1. What is covered by this agreement 1.1 Your claim against 1.2 Damages for personal injury suffered on or around 1.3 Damages for vehicle damage 1.4 Any appeal by your opponent 1.5 Any appeal you make against an interim order 1.6 Any proceedings you take to enforce a judgement, order or agreement 1.7 Negotiations about and/or a court assessment of the costs of this claim 2. What is not covered by this agreement 2.1 Any counterclaim against you 2.2 Any appeal you make against the final judgement order 3. Paying us 3.1 If you win your claim, you pay our basic charges, our disbursements and a success fee. 3.2 You are entitled to seek recovery from your opponent of part or all of our basic charges and our disbursements. 3.3 You will also pay the ATE insurance premium (if applicable) as set out in the document CFA: What You Need to Know. 3.4 It may be that your opponent makes a Part 36 offer or payment, which you reject on our advice and your claim for damages goes ahead to trial where you recover damages that are less than that offer or payment. If this happens, we will not claim any costs for the work done after the last date for acceptance of the offer or payment. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 1

2 3.5 If you receive interim damages, we may require you to pay our disbursements at that point and a reasonable amount for our future disbursements. 3.6 If you receive provisional damages, we are entitled to payment of our basic charges our disbursements and success fee at that point. 3.7 If you lose you will not have to pay your opponent s costs unless any of the conditions listed in section 10.3 of the document CFA: What You Need to Know apply. 4. The Success Fee 4.1 The success fee is set as 25% of damages and will be capped at 25% of the damages you recover relating to; a) General damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity; and b) Damages for pecuniary loss, other than future pecuniary loss c) Vehicle Damages net of any sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department of Work and Pensions, inclusive of VAT. Unless the claim is for Vehicle Damages only. 4.2 None of the success fee relates to the postponement of payment of our fees and expenses. The Success fee (inclusive of any additional percentage relating to postponement) cannot be more than 100% of the basic charges in total. 5. Other points 5.1 The parties acknowledge and agree that this agreement is not a Contentious Business Agreement within the terms of the Solicitors Act Signatures Signed by the solicitor(s):... Signed by the client:... Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 2

3 CFA: What You Need To Know 1. General Terms 1.1 If any of the following events occur, you will break the Agreement and you will be liable to pay our fees: (iv) You fail to co-operate with us; You fail to attend any pre-arranged appointment (e.g. medical or expert examination) or Court hearing which we reasonably request you to attend; You fail to give us necessary instructions when we ask for them; or You withdraw instructions from us. 1.2 In the event of your death, your claim can survive subject to your Personal Representatives agreeing to instruct us under the terms of a new Conditional Fee Agreement. 1.3 If your Personal Representatives do not provide such instructions, this agreement will be deemed terminated pursuant to section 1.1 above and we may seek recovery of our basic charges and expenses up to the date of your death from your estate. 2. Procedure 2.1 If your claim is successful, you will be paid damages by your opponent. The damages are the amount of money you will receive. 2.2 After your damages have been awarded, we will seek to recover our fees, which will comprise our basic costs, disbursements made on your behalf and a success fee. 3. Basic Charges 3.1 These are our charges for the legal work we do, based on the rate we charge which is set out in the enclosed Client Care Booklet. 4. Disbursements 4.1 These are our expenses and fees that have to be paid on your behalf, by us, to others involved in the case. For example, these may be court fees, barristers fees, experts fees, accident report fees and official search fees. 5. Success Fee Explanation 5.1 A success fee is an increase in the amount of our basic charges which is payable, by you, if you win your case. 5.2 There is always an element of risk with any claim. Obviously, some claims are perceived as carrying more risks than others, despite the merits of the case. Instead of choosing only those cases that carry the least risk, we accept a range of claims and risks. 5.3 The amount gained through Success Fees allows us to absorb the costs of unsuccessful claims. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 3

4 5.4 The Success Fee is claimed as a percentage of our Basic Charges, up to a maximum of 100% but capped at 25% of the damages you recover relating to; a) General damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity; and b) Damages for pecuniary loss, other than future pecuniary loss Net of any sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department of Work and Pensions, inclusive of VAT. 5.5 The Success Fee cannot exceed 25% of the damages described at 5.4 and the 25% cap must include the Solicitors Success Fee, the Barrister s Success Fee (if applicable) and VAT. 5.6 The 25% cap will apply to net damages received by you, after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit recovery through the Compensation Recovery Unit (where applicable). 6. Success Fee claimed in this case 6.1 We claim the percentage set out in clause 4 of the CFA (subject to the cap of 25% of the damages awarded). 7. Reasons for the Success Fee in this case 7.1 The Success Fee reflects the risks associated with your type of case. These risks include the following: (iv) Our assessment of the risks of your case; We have yet to obtain any formal witness evidence; There are inherent risks to any litigation; The future risk of failing to beat a Part 36 offer. 7.2 In cases of public liability the Defendant is likely to hold documents or records relating to maintenance, cleaning or inspection. These may be subject to statutory defences. 7.3 In claims arising from your employment, the Defendant is likely to hold records of training or safety procedures. 7.4 If you lose, we will not receive any contribution to our costs. 8. What happens if you win 8.1 You are then liable to pay all our basic charges, disbursements, success fee and the insurance premium for any After-the-Event insurance taken out. 8.2 You may be able to cover part or all of our basic charges and disbursements from your opponent. 8.3 You will not be able to recover the Success Fee or your insurance premium (if applicable) from your opponent. You must pay both costs yourself. 8.4 If you and your opponent cannot agree the amount, the Court will decide how much you can recover. If the amount agreed or allowed by the Court does not cover all our basic charges and disbursements, we will seek to recover the balance from you. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 4

5 8.5 We are allowed to keep any interest your opponent pays on the charges. 9. Part 36 Offers 9.1 It may be that your opponent makes a Part 36 offer or a payment which you reject on our advice and your claim for damages goes ahead to trial where you recover damages that are less than that offer or payment. In such circumstances, you may be required to pay some of your opponent s costs and disbursements. If you are insured against payment of these amounts by your Insurance Policy, we will make a claim on your behalf. 9.2 If you make a Part 36 offer which your opponent rejects and you go on to win your case and receive damages that are at least as advantageous as your Part 36 Offer, then the court may order the defendant to pay you an additional amount as an extra sanction. If the court does order this extra sanction, this additional amount will be calculated as 10% of damages (where the claim is or includes a money claim) or 10% of costs for nonmonetary claims. This will however, be capped for larger claims as it will be calculated as 10% of amounts up to 500,000 and 5% of amounts between 500,000 and 1,000,000. The maximum uplift will be 75, What Happens if you Lose 10.1 In the majority of cases, you do not have to pay any of our basic charges or our success fee Subject to the conditions set out in 10.3 you will not have to pay your opponent s legal charges The conditions of 10.2 are that you will have to pay your opponent s legal charges if; Your claim is found to be fraudulent on the balance of probabilities; You have failed to beat your opponent s Part 36 Offer to Settle i.e. your opponent offered you a payment to settle out of court which was higher than the amount of damages that you were awarded at court; The case has been struck out because you have disclosed no reasonable cause of action or where it is otherwise an abuse of the court s process If you are insured against payment of these amounts by your Insurance Policy, we will make a claim on your behalf. If you are not already insured against such risks we may, at any stage of your claim, recommend a policy of insurance against this risk to you. Where any claim we make for our disbursements under such a policy exceeds any indemnity provided, we agree to cap our claim for disbursements at a sum not exceeding the available indemnity. You may remain liable to pay any premium in respect of such a policy. 11. Termination of this Agreement 11.1 We may end the Agreement if: You reject our opinion about making a settlement with your opponent. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 5

6 (A) If this happens we can obtain a second opinion from an independent solicitor or barrister on the merits of the proposed settlement (this shall be at your expense). We believe that you are unlikely to win your claim. (A) If this happens you will only have to pay our disbursements. However, if you go on to win your case, our basic charges and disbursements must be included in any claim for costs from the Defendant, and you must pay our success fee subject to section 8 above. We believe you have not kept to your responsibilities (see 17). (A) If this happens, we have the right to decide whether you must both pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers fees but not the success fee when we ask for them or pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers fees and success fee if you go on to win your claim for damages You may end this agreement at any time. However, we then have the right to decide whether you must pay our basic charges and our disbursements, including barristers fees but not the success fee when we ask for them or pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers fees and success fee if you go on to win your claim for damages. 12. Interim Hearings 12.1 If on the way to winning or losing you win an interim hearing and are awarded costs for that hearing, then we are entitled to payment of our basic charges and disbursements related to that hearing insofar as the court orders them to be paid by the defendant and the defendant pays them, together with a success fee on those charges if you win overall If you win but on the way lose an interim hearing, you may be required to pay your opponent s charges of that hearing. 13. Value Added Tax (VAT) 13.1 We add VAT at the rate that applies when the work is done, to the total of the Basic Charges 13.2 The Success Fee that we charge will be inclusive of VAT. 14. Win/Lose 14.1 Win, means your claim for damages is finally decided in your favour, whether by a court decision or an agreement to pay you damages. 'Finally' means that your opponent: Is not allowed to appeal against the court decision; or Has not appealed in time; or Has lost any appeal Lose, means the court has dismissed your claim or you have stopped it on our advice. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 6

7 15. Insurance 15.1 If you do not have suitable insurance in place to cover the risks of losing your case we may recommend such cover to you This agreement complies with the requirements of the Access to Justice Act 1999, section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (as amended) and the SRA Handbook. 16. Our responsibilities - we must: 16.1 Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court; 16.2 Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action; 16.3 Give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement; 16.4 Give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your claim for damages. 17. Your responsibilities - you must: 17.1 Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly; 17.2 Not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way; 17.3 Not deliberately mislead us; 17.4 Co-operate with us; 17.5 Go to any pre-arranged arranged appointment or court hearing. Released April 2013 Conditional Fee Agreement 7