Your GSP – Company Registration Process
Whenever you are seeking legal advice it is important to fully understand the financing options open to you. Working alongside the best solicitors for your specific needs is vital to gain the insight and sector specific knowledge that can help you out at a potentially distressing and challenging time, and the best solicitors will lay out all potential funding options on the table for you, so that you can make a fully informed decision about whether to proceed with a legal case, and how to proceed financially.
Here, we take a look at a few different legal funding options that are open to you.
Before the Event Insurance – There are some insurance policies that can be taken out which include cover for both the client and the other party in the event of legal expenses being required. Always check your existing insurance policies before speaking to solicitors. Your solicitor will also be able to look at the terms and advise as to whether it is suitable for your specific case and funding requirements.
Private Funds – It is always an option of course to pay for your legal expenses out of your own pocket utilising private funds. Within commercial rather than private legal clients it is more likely that private funds are used to pay for litigation.
Public Funding – A civil legal aid fund is available through the Legal Services Commission (LSC). This is only available to organisations and solicitors that have a contract with the LSC to undertake publicly funded work. Personal injury, probate, property trust and commercial cases are exempt from LSC funding.
Union Funding – If you belong to a trade union or association you may be able to cover your legal costs through your membership fees and terms. In these circumstances it is often required for legal cases to be turned over to panel solicitors.
Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) – A CFA was first made an available option in 1995 in England and Wales and is most commonly used within the personal injury sector of law. It is often referred to as a ‘No Win No Fee’ agreement, where legal fees are only payable under certain conditions and situations. In some cases a CFA will include a success fee, where a client will pay legal fees and an extra ‘success fee’ at the end of a case, with no fees payable should the client lose. Always speak to your solicitor about the finer details of a CFA before agreeing to it.
After the Event Insurance – This type of insurance is regularly added as a supplement to a CFA. What it does is provide the client with insurance in the event that the case is lost and they are faced with an order to pay the legal costs of the other side, as well as the cost of their own disbursements.
Whichever route of funding you decide to go down to cover legal expenses, always conduct thorough research into choosing the right solicitor for your specific needs and case. They will provide expert advice and guidance not only on the details of the case itself, but also for all funding options available to you.
