No Win No Fee For Injury Law

Looking for legal advice for your personal injury claim? A No win no fee arrangement is a common practice in compensation law in Western Australia. This article focuses on what a no-win, no-fee service is, and what to look for when engaging a no-win no-fee lawyer to provide legal representation for your compensation claim.

What is meant by no win no fee?

In a general sense, no win no fee is a type of conditional legal cost agreement, in which the lawyer or law firm does not charge legal fees unless certain situations occur. In most cases, personal injury lawyers will only charge legal fees in the event of a successful outcome, such as a settlement where compensation is awarded, or a judgment in favour of the injured person in the course of court proceedings. This agreement avoids the need for an injured person to pay upfront legal fees.

Be careful when you sign your no-win no-fee arrangements. There may be a catch with your no win no fee arrangement.

What is a win?

In typical personal injury claims, there are 2 parties. The plaintiff and the defendant. The plaintiff is usually the injured person (e.g., an injured worker in workers’ compensation claims, injured passengers, drivers, pedestrians or motorcyclists in a motor vehicle accident claim). The defendant is usually insured, and therefore the insurer carries on the defence.

Winning a claim could mean accepting liability for your personal injury claim, winning a conciliation at WorkCover, or getting you a settlement payout. It is very important to understand the definition of “win” or “successful outcome” in the cost agreement.

Fee – ‘No win, no fee’ Agreement Inclusions

Similar to the definition of “WIN”, there is no universal definition for “FEE”.

Generally speaking, fee means legal fees of the lawyer who is providing legal representation. Therefore, only legal fees are included in a no win no fee policy.

A no win no fee law firm will usually not charge for legal services in the event that the claim is not successful. No win no fee agreements usually do not extend to expenses incurred on your behalf, for example, court fees or fees for medical reports.

Although the plaintiff doesn’t need to pay legal fees upfront, they will still need to pay other fees such as court fees, disbursements and other parties’ legal costs if their legal proceedings were unsuccessful.

Legal Fees For Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury lawyers offer legal advice to help injured people make sense of their injuries and get their compensation law claim accepted or settled. No win no fee compensation lawyers play a big role in bringing justice to the injured people and making sure injured people can pursue compensation with confidence.

In Australia, personal injury lawyers charge clients based on the work done. In the US, no win no fee law firms often charge fees based on a percentage of a settlement payout.

The True Legal Costs

When personal injury compensation claims proceed to trial, the legal costs often include:

• solicitor fees
• barrister fees
• Court fees
• Disbursements (e.g. medical report costs and expert costs)

Going to court is expensive and if you go to court and lose, the outcome can be devasting for many. Therefore, it is very important to work with good no win no fee compensation lawyers, such as Foyle Legal, to make sure your compensation payout outweighs your legal costs!

The 9 best No Win No Fee lawyers in Perth?

Many comparison websites do not provide a like-for-like comparison of no win no fee lawyers in Perth. This is because most compensation law firms have different no-win no-fee arrangements, therefore, they are not working on the same no-win no-fee basis.

The best way to compare no-win-on-fee lawyers in Perth is to contact each of the law firm’s offices and book an obligation-free initial consultation.

No Win No Fee Guarantee in Perth, WA

When a law firm is providing a No Win No Fee guarantee, please read the fine print. In general, the compensation claim process is long and involves input from several experts. Depending on the evidence that each side has, the outcome can be very hard to predict. Providing a guarantee when the future is uncertain can be very risky for a law firm to commit.

How do No win no fee lawyers work in Australia?

In Australia, the No Win, No Fee model has worked very successfully, delivering millions in compensation payouts every year. Most injured people use No Win No Fee lawyers to seek compensation in:

• workers compensation claims
• motor vehicle accident claims
• public liability claims
• medical negligence claims
• criminal injury compensation claims
• fatal injury compensation claims
• TPD claims

3 Steps in Engaging a no win no fee lawyer

Most the no win no fee lawyers have a 3 step engagement process:

• initial discovery phone call – this discovery call is approximately 10 – 15 minutes with trained legal staff.
• initial consultation with a lawyer – this initial consultation is approximately 30 – 60 minutes with a lawyer to go over the case strategy.
• engagement – this is when you sign the no win no fee agreement, and financial agreements if the law firm is using a litigation funder.

The engagement step is the most important step. You must read and understand the agreement before you engage a lawyer.

Fee Examples

No-win no-fee arrangements can be difficult to understand. The agreement should give estimates or examples as to the likely fee payable and the total costs.

Financial Clauses

Some lawyers ask that clients enter into a separate agreement to fund the legal matter including disbursements like medical reports and court costs. Be careful to read such an agreement carefully so that you understand the total cost.

Is there a catch with no win no fee?

If you read and understand your no win no fee arrangement, there shouldn’t be any catches. The no-win, no-fee model has been around for several decades and many issues have been explored. However, it is still a legal document and your counter-party is a law firm. Please read and ask questions prior to signing any legal document.

As a starting point, here is a list of questions you should ask your No Win No Fee lawyer:

• what is the hourly rate they charge?
• how do they define “win” or “success”?
• what are the fees that are not included in the “no win no fee arrangement”?
• who pays for disbursements?
• who pays for the professional fees if any?
• who pays for the other party’s legal costs if you lose a legal action?

If there are other clauses in the No Win No Fee agreement that raises your concern. Please do raise this with your lawyer.

No Win No Fee Arrangement at Foyle Legal

Foyle Legal offers a fully transparent no win no fee arrangement. We help injured people to claim compensation with confidence. Our legal services include workers’ compensation claims, motor vehicle accident claims, and other personal injury compensation law matters in Western Australia.