Came across this no win no fee article whilst waiting for bike MOT.
RobinPJ may be able to shed more light on this ruling.



here is a pic of my elusive blackbird (center). Cost me £53 per mile last year as I only covered 4 miles

Basically we are now on a US style system where your lawyers can take a share of the spoils if you win. For commercial cases it is up to 50% so some lawyers will get very rich.

You can still have a CFA (no win no fee) but the changes will make them a lot less appealing because the loser no longer has to pay the uplift element, so it comes out of your damages. I Think. (I don't do any CFA work so have not followed it too closely.)

@RobinPJ just for clarity if you could verify...

Prior to 1st April, if you won you would get settlement x and the lawyer would bill the other party PLUS the percentage increase for the no win no fee risk !

With the new ruling you have to pay the lawyer if you win. Now here is the critical bit which the article does not get through efficiently or maybe I misread; If you win you would get settlement x (as before but not more ?) and from this you would have to pay the lawyer and would that be PLUS the percentage increase for the no win no fee risk !

Abolition of recoverability of success fees from 1 April 2013:

If the client wins the case, the opponent will generally be ordered to pay the client's costs, including the conditional fees.

In the case of CFAs entered into before 1 April 2013, it is also possible to recover the success fee from the opponent. In the case of CFAs entered into on or after 1 April 2013, it is no longer possible to recover the success fee from the opponent, and it will have to be paid by the successful client, with a few exceptions.