No Risk and No Cost Proceedings

Expense risks of entering litigation

• Liability to pay firm of solicitors and barristers.
• Liability to pay disbursements (experts, e-disclose and witness costs).
• Liability to pay other party’s costs if claim unsuccessful.
• Substantial cash flow and financial risk.

Solutions

After the Event Insurance (“ATE”)

• Insurance against costs if case lost.
• Can also include cover for your disbursements.
• Premium can be deferred and contingent upon success i.e. not payable if lose. 
• Need to show good prospect of success and good prospect of enforcement.

Third Party Funding

• Funding for all costs in litigation, including your own solicitors’ fees and disbursements. 
• Funder takes share of damages or multiple of outlay.
• Need to show good prospect of success and good prospect of enforcement. 
• Inappropriate if damages less than £300,000.

Conditional Fee Agreement (“CFA”) or Damages Based Agreement (“DBA”)

• On a CFA the law firm charges at discount to hourly rate and receives percentage uplift on fees if claim successful.
• Maximum uplift 100% and only hourly rate without uplift (“basic hourly rate”) recoverable from other party.
• DBA is when solicitors are entitled to a percentage (up to 50%) of damages awarded, if successful.
• Again good prospects of success required and only some law firms will offer. 

Points of Note

• Options are not mutually exclusive.
• Prevents litigation being a crisis purchase and enables you to significantly reduce and control cost risk.
• It enables litigation to be assessed on a commercial basis.
• Can also apply to arbitration and other dispute resolution procedures if criteria met.
• Oury Clark open to discuss options on any proposed litigation.