No Win No Fee
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If you’re engaged in a commercial dispute and considering taking the matter to court, you’ve likely heard of no win no fee funding.
Despite any negative connotations, a no win no fee arrangement between a reputable lawyer and a client can be an effective way for you to gain access to a specialist commercial litigation team in a cost-effective way you can afford.
If someone you’re engaged in business with has done something wrong or unlawful, owes you money or breached the terms of your agreement, pursuing the matter on a no win, no fee basis may be your best option.
But what exactly is a no win no fee arrangement, and how can it work to your benefit?
Read on to find out, or contact Helix Law now. We aim to respond to all queries within an hour.
No Win No Fee Eligibility Calculator
This is a non binding indication whether Helix Law Ltd might be able to offer you a "No Win, No Fee" agreement (also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement, or CFA). There is no cost of obligation for using this service and each case is assessed on its merits.
Area of work
We only enter into CFA funding agreements in relation to some commercial, property and construction disputes. We therefore need to understand what type of dispute you have so that we can assess whether a CFA might be appropriate.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
The dispute is:
Generally speaking tenants will not own assets. That means you might ‘win’ but not recover damages and costs- even if the court orders the tenant to pay. Whereas if your dispute is with a property owner we can usually recover your costs and damages from their share of the property.
Is your claim about an unpaid application for payment and/or retention greater than £20,000?
This is important as it helps us assess the likely cost; benefit for you, and our ability to offer you CFA funding.
Do you have a contract in writing or registered shares in your name?
The more evidence you have in support of your allegations, the better your prospects of success. The higher your prospects of success, the more likely we can offer you a CFA funding arrangement.
Is the issue arising recently or within the last 6 years at most?
All disputes are subject to limitation periods- this is the period of time in which a claim must be issued. Most limitation periods in our work are 6 years. There can be exceptions and upto 12 years is possible, but this is a factor that can increase risk to you and to us and might lead to us declining to offer a CFA. With the passage of time memories can/will also fade, and evidence can be lost or destroyed. Acting promptly can therefore be important.
Does the opponent own property in England and Wales?
We want to ensure we can force your opponent to pay if they refuse to pay. If your opponent has assets, usually property, we can have greater confidence of recovering money, property, or assets (or all the above), for you. Otherwise there can be risk that you have a good claim with good prospects of success, but if your oppoennt doesn’t own anything, you might not recover damages or losses.
Thank you for filling out the form
Based on the form, we think there is a good prospect we will be prepared to offer you a No Win No Fee agreement (CFA). Please confirm your contact details and a member of our team will contact you usually within 1 hour during usual business hours.
What Is No Win, No Fee?
No win no fee is a funding arrangement between us as solicitors and you as our client.
A no win no fee agreement is more formally known as a ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’, the details of which are set out in a binding agreement (a contract) between you and your solicitor.
One crucial aspect of a Conditional Fee Agreement is that the solicitor only gets paid if they ‘win’ your case, hence ‘no win, no fee’.
Litigation is complex, time-consuming, and expensive.
If you’re involved in a significant commercial dispute, you’ll want access to the best possible specialist team.
But there might be limits to what you can afford.
By pursuing litigation on a no win no fee basis, you may be able to minimise the risk of covering upfront costs and gain access to expert legal advice and an experienced litigation team you might not otherwise be able to afford.
Often, commercial disputes arise when you’re least equipped to deal with the risk and expense of taking the matter to court — even if you’re likely to win.
Rather than write off a good claim, consider engaging an expert litigation team with their work funded on a no win no fee basis.
How Does a No Win No Fee Agreement Work?
The particulars of a Conditional Fee Agreement vary substantially based on several factors, including:
- Monetary value of the claim
- Likelihood of success
- Complexity of the claim
- Client requirements
- Solicitor requirements
Solicitors evaluate funding options on a case-by-case basis. The precise terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement may vary. But the basic principle that a solicitor only gets paid for a specifically defined outcome applies to all no win no fee arrangements.
What Are the Benefits of No Win No Fee Litigation?
Client Benefits
- Reduced risk
- Lower upfront cost
- Recover sums you may otherwise have written off
- Obtain access to a specialist litigation team
- Close alignment between your commercial goals and the goals of your solicitor
- Mutual benefit if a claim is successful
Benefits for Solicitors
- Opportunity to pursue good claims and recover monies owed that might otherwise be written off
- Relationship building with new clients
- Mutual benefit if a claim is successful
Why Does No Win No Fee Have a Bad Reputation?
Being a lawyer is frequently lumped in with being a politician, banker, or debt collector as an unsavoury profession.
For many people, hiring a solicitor is a necessary evil at best, and no win no fee agreements initially did nothing to improve that opinion.
The concept of no win no fee originated in the United States. During the 1990s, “Conditional Fee Agreements” became popular in the UK amongst lawyers and people seeking monetary compensation for (sometimes dubious) claims of personal injury or violation of consumer rights and protections.
“Compensation culture” proved lucrative for many, and no win no fee agreements were historically used initially almost exclusively in the personal injury claims industry. At the same time, it became lawful for claims management companies to generate and sell claims leads.
This spawned terms like ‘ambulance chaser’ and ‘claims farmer’ for lawyers and personal injury companies that aggressively pursued ‘claims for blame.’
Despite the negative connotations, no win no fee agreements can play a crucial role in commercial litigation and commercial disputes — particularly where they can help reduce friction between solicitor and client.
What About No Win No Fee for Commercial Litigation?
No win, no fee agreements are available in commercial litigation and disputes, but they’re not as prevalent.
One reason that Conditional Fee Agreements have not taken off is that the areas of law and the factual position in commercial disputes can be incredibly complex.
Traditional firms of solicitors are happy to charge for services but aren’t happy to back their own teams of solicitors or their advice.
Whilst happy to charge clients, concerns of ‘what if the advice is wrong?’ have led to many (most?) solicitors declining to offer alternative funding in commercial disputes.
Helix Law doesn’t operate this way. We are happy to back our own advice.
Where it stacks up for you (and for us), we will gladly offer alternative funding options, including no win, no fee agreements.
We empower our solicitors and team always to consider Conditional Fee Agreements as a payment option.
Is No Win No Fee Your Best Option?
No win, no fee agreements are not the cheapest form of funding.
Since we assume the risk of not being paid, we’re entitled to charge a success fee, usually a 100% uplift on our hourly rates.
Obviously, the fees are only payable if we win.
The details of the agreement — and whether it stacks up for you and for us — must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Under this type of funding agreement, you remain responsible for paying for disbursements — sums for counsel’s fees, expert costs, and court fees if/when needed.
A no win no fee agreement is not a ‘working for nothing’ agreement.
We do not offer no win no fee agreements in every case we are instructed in.
But where a dispute has considerable value, and you and your opponents have assets and ‘means’, we will consider doing so.
In complex cases, we sometimes require an initial fee to accurately assess whether no win no fee funding is workable moving forward.
If required, we will always discuss the fee transparently and come to an agreement with you beforehand.
For many business owners and company shareholders, no win no fee funding can be the only viable option for pursuing a commercial claim — even one with obvious merit — simply because of the expense of pursuing the litigation.
The obligation to settle legal fees regardless of a case’s outcome can prove devastating for many businesses — it may even prove fatal.
Depending on the unique circumstances of your business and the claim, other funding options may be preferable, including:
At Helix Law, not only do we thoroughly examine the particulars of the dispute, but we also take into account the big picture for your business.
With decades of experience in commercial litigation — including many successful no win no fee claims — we will advise you of all the funding options available, leaving you to make the best decision.
No Win No Fee: A Win-Win for Clients
No reputable legal firm should take on a commercial litigation case they don’t believe they can win or when there is a lack of confidence that the team can add value.
No win no fee agreements eliminate any financial incentive for a solicitor to devote time, resources and expertise to pursuing a commercial claim with no legal merit or limited chance of success.
A no win, no fee commercial litigation agreement ensures that your business goals and those of your legal representative are perfectly aligned.
No win no fee agreements between a client with a legitimate commercial claim and an experienced legal team are a win-win for both parties.
At Helix Law, we have decades of experience successfully pursuing commercial litigation on a no win no fee basis.
We may charge for an initial review to assess whether our solicitors can successfully bring or defend a claim.
If your case is clear-cut, such fees are unlikely to be charged.
Offering no win no fee agreements to commercial clients isn’t an anomaly for Helix — it’s the norm.
Would you trust a solicitor who advises you to litigate but refuses to risk their own fee on the outcome of the case?
With no win no fee, Helix Law shares your risk, so you can be sure that our advice is commercial and realistic.
Above all by making our clients strong and by sharing their risk we get better results.
Request A Call Back
People frequently tell us that we’re approachable and offer great advice.
They also tell us most solicitors are hard to get hold of whereas we’re happy to listen. The reason for this is that we value long term relationships and we’re happy to speak with business people, to invest our time in understanding your business and whatever your concerns are. Only at that point can we understand whether we’re the right people to help you.