What is a no win no fee solicitor’s agreement?

So what does no win no fee mean? In a sense, the concept is self explanatory and, if a claimant doesn’t win their personal injury case, they would not have to pay a fee. Any appointed solicitor undertaking no win no fee would effectively be working without payment for their efforts.

The second point in this no win no fee explained section asks just how the solicitor gets paid. If the case is successful, those solicitors will claim their costs and fees via the settlement. Now that we’ve answered the question what a no win no fee agreement is in simple terms, let’s take a closer look at how it works.

How do no win no fee claims work?

So how do no win no fee claims work in the real world? The exact terms and conditions will vary depending on the solicitor that is handling the case. For many no win no fee solicitors, the definition is very clear and no money shall be requested from the client unless that claim is successful. Once the settlement is received, fees and costs will be deducted from the final sum.

However, in some instances for solicitors, no win no fee in Ireland will involve certain payments from the client to cover costs. When asking your solicitor about no win no fee, how does it work, this is an important question to clarify. Will there be nothing to pay, irrespective of the outcome or will costs need to be met at the conclusion of the case?

Is no win no fee worth it? There are two sides to the argument but it may be fair to assume that any solicitor undertaking this practise would not enter into such an agreement if they didn’t feel that they had a strong chance of winning. Naturally there are no guarantees but if initial financial outlay is an issue for the claimant then this could be a logical path to pursue.

How are no win no fee claims settled?

There are three potential outcomes in the case of a no win no fee approach. If the claim gets to court and is rejected, the client is not charged by their solicitor.

In the case of successful outcomes, these can be secured in two possible ways:

Firstly, the third party may accept blame and choose to offer an out of court settlement. The claimant can discuss this with their solicitor and decide whether or not that offer is acceptable.

If the claim is successful following a court judgement, the level of compensation will be decided independently.

In the case of all successful personal injury claims, the solicitor involved will deduct their costs and fees from the final settlement. It is, therefore, imperative that you discuss those costs and charges with your lawyer before instructing them to proceed.

In what situations might no win no fee be used?

In theory, any individual claimant could proceed with a case on a no win no fee basis. Legal costs can be high and many are simply unable to meet the upfront outlay that comes attached to personal injury claims.

If your solicitor were able to accept the case on this basis, there would naturally have to be an extremely high chance of a successful outcome so this should be kept in mind.

In summary, if the initial outlay involved in pursuing a personal injury claim is preventing you from proceeding, it may be worth discussing the possibility of no win no fee with your appointed lawyers.

Regulations for no win no fee solicitors in Ireland

The important point to remember is, that with no win no fee in Ireland, the regulation states that solicitors are not allowed to advertise this as a service. Therefore, it shouldn’t be possible to find a lawyer just by undertaking an internet search using no win no fee as a search term.

It may be the case that a specific solicitor will provide a no win no fee service but they are not allowed under Irish law to promote this fact. Therefore, claimants will have to take the initiative and discuss this as an option if it is important to them.

How much do no win no fee solicitors take?

One of the questions that customers need to ask is whether there are there any no win no fee hidden costs. As mentioned above, it is possible that a no win no fee solicitor may still look to have their costs covered by the time the claim comes to a conclusion.

In some instances, where the lawyer feels that there is a strong case, there may be no charge at all and the answer to the question of how much do no win no fee solicitors take is ‘literally nothing’.

Moving forward, no win no fee rates will be dependent on the final settlement. Solicitors will look to cover their costs and take additional returns when the claim is upheld. Therefore, it is important to establish those rates and to ask what percentage do no win no fee lawyers take.

What initial costs are covered by no win no fee claims?

When a personal injury claim is submitted, there may be a number of upfront fees to consider. These can include, but are not limited to:

• Medical reports
• Charges made by medical experts who are consulted to provide evidence
• Stamp duty

This is why a no win no fee agreement can be so important. If your solicitor agrees to work with you on this basis, they will take care of any upfront costs that need to be incurred. If the claim is settled in favour of the claimant, those costs will then be deducted from the final compensation payout.

If, however, the claim is not successful, those upfront charges should be covered by the lawyer and not passed on to the client.

What points should I establish before going ahead?

It’s not a guarantee that those upfront costs will be met by the solicitor in the event of a claim not being settled successfully so this is an important point to discuss. During an initial call with your lawyer, this question should be put at the top of your checklist.

You should also consider the likelihood of the claim meeting a satisfactory conclusion. While no guarantees can ever be put in place, an experienced and trusted personal injury lawyer will give you an honest assessment of your circumstances before the claims procedure is put in motion.

How to choose the best no win no fee solicitors?

Because it’s illegal to advertise this practise in Ireland, it can be difficult to establish who is the best no win no fee solicitors. You could potentially decide on who is the best no win no fee option either by word of mouth or by searching through forums where the subject may be openly discussed.

Remember, if a solicitor is openly promoting this facility then this should be a warning. They could be from outside of the Republic of Ireland or, they may be unregulated. If they are a legitimate personal injury lawyer then they are transgressing the law for solicitors on no win no fee in Ireland and it would be advisable not to proceed.

The best no win no fee injury lawyers will not be advertising this as an option but there are those who will take on no win no fee cases. If it’s not possible to identify this point via word of mouth or public forums, the best approach would be to search for an experienced personal injury solicitor.
Look online and, having found a potential candidate, it’s a good idea to check their About Us page. Consider how many years that they have been practising and read any reviews and testimonials that have been published.

This is the type of approach that a claimant should take ahead of any personal injury claim but we still haven’t established whether this is the best no win no fee solicitors. The next step, therefore, is to contact the lawyers in question for an initial consultation and to establish whether it’s possible to proceed on a no win no fee basis.

The best no win no fee lawyers will advise you in an honest and transparent manner. They should firstly confirm whether or not this is an option before underlining those terms and conditions. Remember to establish whether this is a literal ‘no win no fee’ or if the lawyer will be looking to reclaim their own outlay, irrespective of whether the final claim is successful or not.

The process of finding no win no fee solicitors in Dublin or in Ireland as a whole, may be more time consuming than the procedure for identifying a regular personal injury lawyer. However, as long as thorough research is carried out and the suggested steps are taken, it should be relatively easy to find the right legal partner moving forward.