Funding Options for Legal Services Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is private funding? Who uses it?
Litigation funded privately - common for businesses, very unlikely for individuals
What is professional funding? Who uses it?
Trade union / professional organisation
Most common for civil / criminal litigation
What is before the event insurance?
Insurance policy which would pay out to cover costs of legal work
Often sold in conjunction with other insurance policies
Often have a financial limit on the cover provided
Most common for litigation
Premiums are not generally recoverable from the other side should the policyholder be successful
What is a conditional fee agreement?
Funds civil litigation – no win no fee
Successful solicitor is paid the normal fee plus a success fee. Can recover basic fee and disbursements from the other side, with damages. Client owes solicitor a success fee payable from the damages and not recoverable from the opponent, so reduces damages
Personal injury cases – success fee cannot exceed 25% of general damages.
Only funds a solicitor’s costs – no option for expert’s fees / court fees / other disbursements
Means solicitor essentially gets costs twice - £20,000 plus the uplift you’d like e.g. 90% - would be £20,000 + 90% of £20,000
What is excluded from a CFA?
Any other fees or disbursements e.g. court fees, expert fees, etc - these would need to be agreed separately
What is a DBA - damages based agreement?
No win no fee – if case is successful, solicitor will be paid a proportion of the damages awarded to their client by way of a remedy. Fee is not recoverable
Capped at 25% of damages for personal injury cases
35% of damages for employment tribunal cases
50% of damages in all other cases
What is excluded from a DBA?
Disbursements, opponent’s costs
What is after the event insurance? ATE
Taken out in order to help the client cover costs of litigation once dispute has already arisen
Civil litigation – most common
Covers client’s own disbursements and their opponent’s costs + disbursements in event of losing case
Often used in conjunction with a CFA or DBA to pay for disbursements and opponent’s costs
ATE availability depends on the merits of the case and the level of cover required
More expensive then BTE – premiums can hit 25% + of insurance cover sought
Premiums will not be recoverable, apart from clinical negligence expert reports
What is a third party funding option?
Essentially institutional investment in litigation
If successful – funder will get their money back + an uplift
Limited to commercial cases of a high value
Name three core elements of the code of conduct of the Association of Litigation Funders
- Don’t mislead
- Do not take control / conduct of litigation away from solicitor / barrister involved – could lead to a costs order against you
- Must be able to afford it in advance
At what point in the criminal process is legal advice free for everyone, regardless of their means?
Police station
What tests must someone pass for public funding for representation at court?
Means test
Merits test - interests of justice test
What benefits are passporting through the means test?
Defendants under 18
Recipients of Universal Credit and JSA
What is the means test in Magistrates’ Court?
Weighted gross annual income
What is the means test in the Crown Court?
Income and capital analysis
What is the most important of the 10 propositions?
Loss of liberty - consider all factors altogether
When will someone only be eligible for telephone advice from the duty solicitor?
When the crime is very minor - e.g. unfit to be driving; may be appropriate for telephone advice vs waiting for duty solicitor
In which court may a defendant have to make a contribution order towards costs?
Crown Court - this would not happen in the Magistrates
