Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA’s)

A conditional fee agreement is an agreement with someone who provides litigation or advocacy services which provides that person’s fees to be paid only in specified circumstances. Some CFA’s provide for success fees but not always.

The Conditional Fee Agreement Regulations 2000 were abolished on 1st November 2005

Collective Conditional Fee Agreements (CCFA’s)

 CFA-Simple / CFA Lite

 Additional Liabilities

 Notice of Funding

Third Party Funders

Hamilton -v- Al Fayed [2003] (QBD)

Pure funders cannot benefit from litigation. If a third party provides funding in a case and has a financial interest in the proceedings or may derive some benefit from them they may be liable to pay the costs if they lose.

 Cases

Myatt -v- National Coal Board

BTE Insurance / Alternative methods of funding investigations

John Holmes -v- Alfred McAlpine Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd [2006] EWHC 110 (QB) QBD

The solicitors had not explained to their client that the CFA was backdated but the agreement was still enforceable. The test had been whether there had been an adverse effect on the administration of justice and whether there had been a material effect client’s protection.