No win V your own appointed solicitor
Discussion
JustinP1 said:
Are you in possession of lots of money?
Not sure by lots, but i am by no means poor. Am i right in saying if i appoint my own solicitor i have to find all the money if i lose? If i go no win no fee and loose i just walk away, how ever if i win they will take a % of the pay out.
chippy348 said:
JustinP1 said:
Are you in possession of lots of money?
Not sure by lots, but i am by no means poor. Am i right in saying if i appoint my own solicitor i have to find all the money if i lose? If i go no win no fee and loose i just walk away, how ever if i win they will take a % of the pay out.
And then take correct Legal advice.
You are correct that if you appoint your own solicitor you will be liable for all legal costs (including the defendants/respondants) if you lose.
BUT BE VERY CLEAR.
No win no fee may very well mean no fee (from your legal team) if you lose.
But it doesnt apply to the costs that will be awarded against you by The Judge, for the defendants.
And THAT will fcuck you up faster than the life changing injury that youre claiming for.
TVR1 said:
STOP. RIGHT. NOW.
And then take correct Legal advice.
You are correct that if you appoint your own solicitor you will be liable for all legal costs (including the defendants/respondants) if you lose.
BUT BE VERY CLEAR.
No win no fee may very well mean no fee (from your legal team) if you lose.
But it doesnt apply to the costs that will be awarded against you by The Judge, for the defendants.
And THAT will fcuck you up faster than the life changing injury that youre claiming for.
You can buy insurance for such an eventuality.And then take correct Legal advice.
You are correct that if you appoint your own solicitor you will be liable for all legal costs (including the defendants/respondants) if you lose.
BUT BE VERY CLEAR.
No win no fee may very well mean no fee (from your legal team) if you lose.
But it doesnt apply to the costs that will be awarded against you by The Judge, for the defendants.
And THAT will fcuck you up faster than the life changing injury that youre claiming for.
And you can appoint your own solicitor who may well agree to no win no fee.
No win no fee means you'll pay nothing up until the point where it goes to court.
I had a case that was done through my employer's (NHS Scotland) solicitor and it was handled as no win no fee. If they offer a settlement you have the choice whether to accept or reject. The first offer is usually no where near what you're likely entitled to. However, if reject the final offer and go to court, and the judge decides your claim is less than the settlement offer, you've technically lost the case and are liable for all costs. At least in Scotland anyway.
I had a case that was done through my employer's (NHS Scotland) solicitor and it was handled as no win no fee. If they offer a settlement you have the choice whether to accept or reject. The first offer is usually no where near what you're likely entitled to. However, if reject the final offer and go to court, and the judge decides your claim is less than the settlement offer, you've technically lost the case and are liable for all costs. At least in Scotland anyway.
chippy348 said:
If one was to try and sue a company for medical reasons (Ie involved in a life changed incident) would it be best to find your own solicitor or go to one of these no win no fee places ?
You may have legal expenses cover on your house insurance, if so, it could be worth checking.Always choose a lawyer on merit not cost. Otherwise if you pay peanuts, expect a monkey !
Be aware that winning expenses/costs usually only covers expenditure deemed necessary, as opposed to advisable, in going to court. i.e. There are often costs not covered so if you go down this route, check carefully what is and is not covered.
In my experience, a good lawyer doesn't need gimmicks to attract business. If you are good enough with an established record, people will come. Good lawyers can then offer an hourly rate or a conditional fee arrangement (no win, no fee) and let you choose.
If it were me, I'd pick my own, pay by the hour solicitor every time.
Be aware that winning expenses/costs usually only covers expenditure deemed necessary, as opposed to advisable, in going to court. i.e. There are often costs not covered so if you go down this route, check carefully what is and is not covered.
In my experience, a good lawyer doesn't need gimmicks to attract business. If you are good enough with an established record, people will come. Good lawyers can then offer an hourly rate or a conditional fee arrangement (no win, no fee) and let you choose.
If it were me, I'd pick my own, pay by the hour solicitor every time.
chippy348 said:
Not sure by lots, but i am by no means poor. Am i right in saying if i appoint my own solicitor i have to find all the money if i lose?
If i go no win no fee and loose i just walk away, how ever if i win they will take a % of the pay out.
You can still be required to underwrite costs even on purported no-win no-fee and if you choose to walk away will certainly get stung for the costs until then. They will often require you to accept an early settlement and claim a substantial portion of it as their share rather than paying regular fees.If i go no win no fee and loose i just walk away, how ever if i win they will take a % of the pay out.
If you have a strong case, a regular solicitor will pursue the case on a deferred fee basis, which can be included in the final settlement. So you keep the entire settlement and other party pays the fees.
If you have a good case the latter option should be preferred, if your claim is a shake-down go with a weasel.
No-win No-fee can cover a multitude of different practice models and terms of business.
It can cover anything from:
No charges at all to the client for the legal work but the client meeting the ongoing outlays (medical report etc) and the client accepting the risk for the other sides costs; to
% Success fee payable by client, with a Legal Expenses Policy in place to meet the outlays/other sides costs if a court action goes awry.
In general, the development of the PI market over the last few decades has meant that most large and experienced Claimant Solicitor Firms will have some form of funding product they can offer to cover the costs of a claim - typically for a % - and more crucially I suspect that the majority of the large experienced claimant firms will probably not be geared up to do hourly billed work anymore.
The first thing you need to look at is really the expertise of the solicitor you wish to instruct. If your case is complicated/high value - you need someone who know what they are doing - check Law Society Specialisms or have a look for APIL affiliated solicitor.
Secondly look at the terms under which they will take your case on. - you need to be asking who pays for the things needed to investigate liability/quantum in your case (Liability/Engineering Reports, Medical Reports, Pension/Care Reports etc) and even with Qualified One Way Cost Shifting who takes on the risk of the court costs should the case be unsuccessful. You should also be asking about what happens if a Part 36 offer is made.
Investigating a case can be costly, medical reports vary depending on speciality/demand - anything from a few hundred to thousands of pounds, engineering reports are generally even more expensive.
Court can be very expensive - a complicated case heard over 4 days with a number of different experts and with Junior and Senior Counsel can easily run into high fives/six figures.
Best thing to do would be to shop around, find out what the no-win no-fee lawyers are offering in terms of funding/cost indemnification and compare that to what your hourly solicitor is looking for/offering to do.
Edited to add:
Someone else mentioned your home insurance might contain some form of legal expenses - this is worth checking but you should also check to see if there is a policy limit (£25,000/£50,000 of cover won't go far if a life changing case goes down the tubes in the witness box), you should also ask is there a panel of firms you can choose from or just one firm - if so you have to make sure that wherever the case goes has the necessary expertise.
It can cover anything from:
No charges at all to the client for the legal work but the client meeting the ongoing outlays (medical report etc) and the client accepting the risk for the other sides costs; to
% Success fee payable by client, with a Legal Expenses Policy in place to meet the outlays/other sides costs if a court action goes awry.
In general, the development of the PI market over the last few decades has meant that most large and experienced Claimant Solicitor Firms will have some form of funding product they can offer to cover the costs of a claim - typically for a % - and more crucially I suspect that the majority of the large experienced claimant firms will probably not be geared up to do hourly billed work anymore.
The first thing you need to look at is really the expertise of the solicitor you wish to instruct. If your case is complicated/high value - you need someone who know what they are doing - check Law Society Specialisms or have a look for APIL affiliated solicitor.
Secondly look at the terms under which they will take your case on. - you need to be asking who pays for the things needed to investigate liability/quantum in your case (Liability/Engineering Reports, Medical Reports, Pension/Care Reports etc) and even with Qualified One Way Cost Shifting who takes on the risk of the court costs should the case be unsuccessful. You should also be asking about what happens if a Part 36 offer is made.
Investigating a case can be costly, medical reports vary depending on speciality/demand - anything from a few hundred to thousands of pounds, engineering reports are generally even more expensive.
Court can be very expensive - a complicated case heard over 4 days with a number of different experts and with Junior and Senior Counsel can easily run into high fives/six figures.
Best thing to do would be to shop around, find out what the no-win no-fee lawyers are offering in terms of funding/cost indemnification and compare that to what your hourly solicitor is looking for/offering to do.
Edited to add:
Someone else mentioned your home insurance might contain some form of legal expenses - this is worth checking but you should also check to see if there is a policy limit (£25,000/£50,000 of cover won't go far if a life changing case goes down the tubes in the witness box), you should also ask is there a panel of firms you can choose from or just one firm - if so you have to make sure that wherever the case goes has the necessary expertise.
Edited by Norse_mann on Sunday 2nd October 22:53
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