If you don’t win, you don’t pay us

Dear Prospective Client.

To understand the meaning of our promise: “If you don’t win, you don’t pay”, you need to understand something about how the legal costs of litigation are worked out and who pays them.

In this discussion, ‘work’ includes disbursements paid out on your behalf. Disbursements typically include fees for doctors’ or other experts’ reports, or filing fees, etc.

What you pay to your solicitor, whether by agreement or by the operation of the law, are called solicitor and client costs. These are all of the costs reasonably incurred by your solicitor in preparing and running, or settling, your case. If your case is successfully resolved, then it usually follows that the other side has to contribute to those legal costs, however, not on a ‘solicitor and client basis’, but on a ‘party and party costs’ basis. This won’t include payment of costs for all the work done by your solicitor, but will cover costs necessarily incurred. The ‘gap’ between the two, will be payable at the end of your case from your settlement money.

The losing party in a case is generally ordered to pay the winning party’s costs, also on a party and party basis. Once again, these are only the costs necessarily incurred by the winning party’s solicitor.

Work “reasonably” done will usually be more than work “necessarily” done. Therefore, typically, party and party costs are less than solicitor and client costs – about one-half to three-quarters of solicitor and client costs.

If you lose your case, you won’t be getting a bill from us for anything at all, neither solicitor and client costs nor for disbursements. However, it is very likely that you will be ordered to pay the other side’s party and party costs. Unless specifically provided for in our Client Agreement, you will be responsible for paying those costs.

While this is a very rare occurrence, we cannot absolutely guarantee that it won’t happen in some cases. However, we will give you a professional and honest appraisal of your prospects of success whenever necessary or at your request in the course of looking after your claim.

Yours sincerely,

Mark and Noor Blumer