I am willing to undertake cases on a “no win no fee” basis and indeed most of the sex abuse cases that I am undertaking at the moment are on a “no win, no fee” basis.
It is important to appreciate that victims who want to make a claim for compensation may be eligible for Public Funding (known as “legal aid” in old money) but it is means tested. To qualify you have to be on a low income, with little by way of capital. Also the Legal Services Commission which administers the scheme has to be satisfied that the case justifies having public money spent on it. My advice is that if you qualify on means and I reckon you have a good case then apply for Public Funding and I will help you to complete the application form. It is useful when seeing me (or any other solicitor come to that) to have details of your finances to hand.
To represent you on a “no win, no fee” basis I have to risk assess your case. I am after all exposing my company to the financial risk of running your case, at our expense, and then not being paid for it. Basically I need to be satisfied that there is a more than fifty/fifty chance of winning. Assuming that is the case and we agree to take on the case then we do so in the knowledge that we will not be paid unless we win!
Win means obtaining damages as a result of an out of court settlement or a judgment following trial.
If we lose which means failing at trial or as result of having to abandon the case we do not get paid. It is usually highly desirable to obtain insurance cover to protect you against the risk of losing the case having taken court proceedings, because in those circumstances the trial judge could order you to pay your opponents costs. The fact that you are on a “no win, no fee agreement” is neither here nor there. We usually obtain cover for our clients using a product called Accident Line Protect. It is a requirement though on its part that generally speaking that the chances of success are 60 per cent plus.
We usually pay the insurance premium for you.
The real and big benefit of a “no win, no fee” agreement, with insurance cover, is that it takes away all the financial risk and worry from the client i.e. you. There may be other means of funding which I can discuss with you.