No Win No Fee for Workers’ Compensation

Injured workers in WA may be able to access no win, no fee legal services for workers’ compensation claims. This no win no fee means that if your injury claim is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay any legal fees. While it’s possible to find a No Win No Fee lawyer to take care of your workplace injury claim, it’s important to know that No Win No Fee is NOT free. Read on and find out more about the Terms and Conditions of No Win No Fee Guarantee, and how to best prevent issues associated with legal costs and any other hidden costs.

Is there a catch with No Win No Fee Agreements?

“No Win No Fee, No Catch” is a marketing slogan many personal injury lawyers use. If you don’t read your No Win No Fee Agreements properly, you may get caught!

Typically, here is how people get caught in by No Win No Fee agreements. The following fees are not legal fees incurred by your lawyer, they are out of pocket expenses and are likely to be payable regardless of whether you are successful:

• Disbursements
• Court Fees
• Medical Reports Fees
• Expert Witness Fees
• Private Investigator Fees
• Defendants’ legal fees – if you go to trial and lose at the court proceedings, the judge is likely to order you to pay the other side’s legal fees!
• Other Professional Fees

Please note, the agreements for No Win No Fee lawyers are not the same. To prevent getting caught by the No Win No Fee Agreement, you must read the No Win No Fee arrangements you entered with your personal injury lawyer when they commenced the legal representation.

How much do No Win No Fee lawyers take in WA?

If you meet a personal injury lawyer in an initial consultation and he or she says the legal fees will be 10%, 20% or 30% of your personal injury claim settlement, BE CAREFUL! This is called a contingency fee arrangement and is not allowed in WA.

In Western Australia, if you engage a compensation lawyer to assist with your compensation law cases, the lawyer is not allowed to charge legal services on a contingent basis. This means no percentage fees.

Generally speaking, how many No Win No Fee lawyers take in WA depends on how much work they do in your personal injury claim.

If you’d like to have an estimate about how much a No Win No Fee lawyer takes for a workers’ compensation claim, car accident injury claim, or any other type of personal injury claim, you should ask the compensation lawyer:

• Does the No Win No Fee lawyer, or their law firm have any past experience presenting other personal injury claims that are similar to yours?
• How much compensation has the personal injury lawyer got for similar clients with a similar injury type?
• How much legal fees did they charge for helping the client to claim compensation?

Please bear in mind that all personal injury claims are very different. For instance, in workers’ compensation fees will vary based on whether you have a claim accepted injury claim. How much a no win no fee lawyer takes in your case may differ from how much legal costs they charge for similar workers’ compensation claims, motor vehicle accident claims, public liability claims, medical negligence claims or any other type of personal injury claims.

Legal Costs of Workers Compensation Claim Lawyers

WorkCover WA administrates and regulates the workers’ compensation scheme in Western Australia. WorkCover also sets out how much workers’ compensation lawyers can charge for conciliation, arbitration, and Workcover claim-related expenses.

No fault workers compensation claim

WorkCover legal fees are a staged process. Lawyers are only able to charge a maximum fee for each stage of the WorkCover WA process. The hourly rates chargable for WorkCover disputes as of 1 July 2022 are as follows:

• Senior Practitioner: 429.00
• Junior Practitioner: 341.00
• Restricted Practitioner: 242.00
• WorkCover Registered Agent: 214.50

Workers compensation common law claim

If the injured worker elects to proceed with common law proceedings then the costs agreement will usually state the applicable rate. The workers’ compensation common law claim is usually commenced in the District Court of Western Australia, as it has an unlimited jurisdiction for personal injury claims.

Often lawyers will charge in accordance with the Legal Profession (Supreme and District Courts) (Contentious Business) Report 2022 (as at 1 July 2022) which specifiees the following charge rates:

• Senior Practitioner: 506.00
• Junior Practitioner: 374.00
• Restricted Practitioner: 319.00
• Clerk/Paralegal: 242.00

Insurance companies contribute to your legal fees

When you successfully settle the workplace injury claim with the assistance of your appointed workers compensation lawyers, the insurance company will often contribute an amount towards your legal costs. In our experience working on thousands of worker’s compensation claims in Western Australia, the additional compensation payout you often receive largely offsets the legal costs of hiring a good workers’ compensation lawyer!

How does no win no fee work in Australia?

Often we are asked how does No Win No Fee law firm works in Australia. Here is how it works in most cases:

1. You meet with a personal injury lawyer or more than one personal injury lawyers in the law firm for a for an obligation free call or an obligation-free initial consultation.
2. You explain your injury claim case to the lawyer.
3. The lawyer explains how the compensation law would work in your situation.
4. The No Win No Fee compensation lawyer will also explain how their No Win No Fee policy will work in your type of personal injury claim case.
5. You engage a personal injury lawyer by signing a No Win No Fee agreement. This marks the start of the No win No Fee service! Typically, you don’t need to pay any upfront legal fees.
6. The no win no fee lawyer will follow a well-established personal injury claim process to help you achieve a successful compensation payout.
7. The insurance company often contributes legal fees toward your no win no fee compensation lawyers final legal costs, and disbursements associated with your compensation claim.
8. You are only liable to pay legal fees not covered by the insurance company.

Please note – Agreements made with a Barrister are not necessarily covered by a no win no fee costs agreement. The Barrister should provide you with costs disclosure regarding the terms of their engagement.

Terms and Conditions of No Win No Fee Guarantee

No Win No Fee Guarantee in Perth, WA

Can any no win no fee lawyers in Perth provide you with absolute No Win No Fee guarantees when providing legal services in compensation law in WA?

The terms and conditions of the No Win No Fee arrangement can be found in the Cost Agreement. It is unlikely that lawyers will be willing to provide such a guarantee as the risk would be high. To understand how a specific No Win No Fee guarantee works and avoid hidden legal costs, it is important to ask the compensation lawyers to explain their No Win No Fee policy to you in plain English. Especially, you need to understand:

• No Win, No Fee inclusions; and,
• No Win, No Fee exclusions.

‘No win, no fee’ Legal Fees Inclusions

The most common “No Win, No Fee” inclusions are the legal fees of the compensation lawyer fee. To avoid getting caught, please ask wheater or not the law firm charges upfront legal fees or an upfront deposit.

Some law firms do not charge upfront legal fees, but they charge a deposit to get the claim started.

‘No win, no Fee’ Legal Fees Exclusions

The most common “No Win, No Fee” legal fee exclusions are:

• Other party’s legal fees

If you take your legal action to court and lose the court action, you may be liable to pay the other party’s legal fees. For example, you have a common law worker’s compensation claim, took the legal matter to trial, and lost at trial. In this case, the judge may order you to pay the legal fees of the Defendant and insurance lawyer that acts on behalf of your employer’s insurance company.

• Barrister Fees

If your legal team suggested a particular barrister to represent you at trial, the barrister fee is often not covered in the No Win No Fee agreement you entered with your lawyer. The Barrister should set our their terms of engagement.

• Third party fees

It is often the case that your no win no fee lawyer will engage doctors (to write medical reports) and other experts, such as an engineer, with a view towards maximising the value of your workers compensation claim or work injury common law action.

Most cases settle, but usually the costs of medical reports, expert reports and court fees will be payable by you regardless of whether you are successful in your case.

Don’t Waste Your Time & Money with Other Lawyers?

Is No Win No Fee lawyers the best choice for your workers’ compensation claim in Western Australia? It depends, but for most people no win no fee arrangements are the best choice and the only choice.

Most injured workers are not in a financial situation to pay upfront legal fees. Getting a lawyer who doesn’t charge upfront legal costs and offers legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis has benefited many personal injury clients. Because of this reason, the No Win No Fee legal model has been widespread globally and has benefiting millions of injured people globally!

Does it mean you shouldn’t waste your time and money with other lawyers? It’s a personal choice. And, sometimes, it is a necessity. For example, if your claim is perceived as too risky by No Win No Fee lawyers. You may have no choice but to go with other types of lawyers, as long as you have the financial backing and are not afraid of financial loss when the lawyer doesn’t get you a positive outcome.

Please be mindful that No Win No Fee lawyers often have a high volume of caseload, which means they may have a good combined experience from working on injury cases similar to yours. And, because they don’t get paid unless they get you a settlement, they will likely be motivated to get you a settlement!

Foyle Legal No Win No Fee Lawyers

Foyle Legal is one of the top-rated compensation lawyers in Perth. We offer complete transparent No Win No Fee legal services. In addition to workers’ compensation claims and motor vehicle accident claims, we can also help injured people get a successful outcome in medical negligence claims, public liability claims, criminal injuries compensation claims, and fatal injuries dependency claims.

Contact Foyle Legal for your initial free consultation if you have made a personal injury claim.