Litigation is usually the last resort to resolve a dispute. The costs of funding litigation can be extortionate. When disputes have little or no contemporaneous documentation, but turn on facts, time will need to be spent on drafting an accurate and persuasive witness statement (which is usually the case in small family matters, or small business disputes). If the matter being litigated by multi-billion pound conglomerates over a multi-million pound contract dispute with many (sometimes thousands) of documents, then potentially hundreds of hours will be spent on the disclosure exercise alone. Either way, legal advice is expensive. At Griffin Law, we offer various agreements (depending on the cases) to assist clients tolerate the burden of litigation. 

Discounted Rates Conditional Fee Agreements

In certain cases, depending on the merits of the case, we can offer discounted hourly rates. You will still need to cover the disbursements, such as counsel’s fees, court fees, and any expert witnesses, but our fees will be charged at a discounted rate, up to 50%.

If we win the case, the remainder of the fees not yet paid will be payable by you. If we lose the case, then you will not need to pay our full fees. The disbursements will need to be paid by you.

As an example, if Griffin Law believes that the merits of your potential claim are strong, we will discount our hourly rate between 25%-50%. You will cover the disbursements, such as counsel’s fees, court fees and any expert witness reports. We will raise monthly invoices at the agreed discount rate, but each invoice will show the full amount payable if we win at trial (or achieve favourable settlement). If we win, the amount previously discounted will be payable. If we lose, you will not pay more than the discounted fees (it should be noted, in all litigation, if you lose, you will be liable to pay some, if not all the other party’s legal costs).

Contingency Fee Arrangements

This agreement covers the fees incurred before or without issuing proceedings. If the case is lost (e.g. no recovery of debt), no fee is payable. These types of agreements are most common in employment claims or other small debt recovery matters. Depending on the volume of matters you have, and the amount of debt owed, we can engage your debtors with pre-action correspondence to encourage them to repay or settle their debt with you. We will usually agree a percentage of the debt recovered as our fee.

For example, say we recover £100,000.00 from a debtor, without issuing proceedings. If the contingency fee agreement was 20% of any recoverability, our fees will be £20,000.00. This will be charged regardless of whether the time spent is more or less than the amount.

Disbursements are covered by the client under these agreements. 

Damages Based Agreements (“DBA”)

If the case is lost, no fee is payable. It is a form of Contingency Fee Agreement. These agreements are usually available to assist funding the litigation of a claimant. In these cases, Griffin Law will fund all disbursements, but we will take a percentage of any damages depending on the nature of the dispute.

These cases are few and far between, and it is dependent on the facts of the dispute, the amount recoverable and merits of success. These agreements cover pre-action and when proceedings have been issued.

Litigation Funding Options and Insurance

Litigation Funding

There has been an increase in litigation funding investors. Litigation funding has recently been in the spotlight since the Post Office litigation.

The cases which are funded are those which have damages payable. Each litigation funder usually has strict requirements for funding cases, and we can work with you and the funders to determine eligibility before any pre-action correspondence. Cases are not restricted to commercial/civil litigation, but also divorces, where one spouse may have much more resources and control than the other. The funder will assess the claim on the chances of success and the chances of recovery. Both aspects must be viable before a funder will consider investing in a particular case.

Griffin Law would be paid by the funder for the whole of the proceedings. In the event of success at trial (or favourable settlement) the funder will be paid their investment, and an agreed return on investment before any damages are returned to you.

After the Event Insurance (“ATE”)

ATE is a form of insurance used to mitigate against the risk of paying opponent’s legal costs and potentially your own disbursements.  The insurance covers the legal expenses that may be incurred if you lose, i.e. the opponent’s legal expenses. You will rarely have to pay 100% of the opponent’s fees, but depending on the nature of the order the general rule is that you will pay between 60 and 70% of their costs.

The premium payable depends on estimates of what the likely costs may be in your matter.

Before the Event Insurance (“BTEI”)

Various insurance policies may have clauses that cover legal expenses in certain disputes. For example, a car insurance policy may cover legal fees for personal injury in a road traffic accident. Life insurance sometimes covers legal fees for employment tribunals. And home insurance sometimes covers legal fees for boundary or contractual disputes. In any event, the policy is taken out before any dispute has arisen. 

If you have a dispute and think you have an insurance policy that may cover the dispute, we can review the relevant policy and confirm whether or not our costs will be covered.

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (“DOLI”)

These policies cover defense costs (solicitors fees and relevant disbursements) on behalf of directors, managers and certain employees in any claims made by members or other third parties. DOLI policies are held by company clients, and it may also cover defence costs of criminal or regulatory investigations into the company. DOLI exists to protect personal assets of the directors being pursued, and also their spouses.

Do you have a claim?If you believe you have a substantial claim, but may not be able to afford the legal fees, we can assess your case in the first instance to determine if there is scope to offer one of the fee agreements above, and liaise with your insurance providers. For more information, contact Griffin Law at Justice@griffinlaw.co.uk