Q&As

Does a CFA have to include a success fee to be enforceable?

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Produced in partnership with Alex Bagnall of Total Legal Solutions
Published on: 08 August 2016
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What is a CFA?

A Conditional fee agreement (CFA) is a type of Funding agreement which is more commonly referred to as a ‘no win no fee’ agreement. Section 58(2)(a) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (CLSA 1990) formally defines a CFA as:

'an agreement with a person providing advocacy or litigation services which provides for his Fees and expenses, or any part of them, to be payable only in specified circumstances'

What are the Requirements for a CFA?

In order to be an enforceable CFA, the requirements of CLSA 1990, s 58(3) must be met:

  1. •

    it must be in writing

  2. •

    it must not relate to proceedings which cannot be the subject of an enforceable CFA; and

  3. •

    it must comply with such requirements (if any) as may be prescribed by the Lord Chancellor

The requirements prescribed by the Lord Chancellor are to be found in the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, SI 2013/689 (CFA Regulations). The CFA Regulations

Alex Bagnall
Alex Bagnall

Total Legal Solutions

Alex has worked in legal costs since 2007 and qualified as a Costs Lawyer in 2014. He has served as the Technical Director of a large multi-site firm of costs draftsmen, was the Head of Commercial Litigation Costs at another national firm and was a Senior Associate at a firm of solicitors which specialised in costs litigation. He is currently the Technical Manager at Total Legal Solutions.

Alex's practice consists of complex, technical and high-value claims for costs. He appears regularly as an advocate in Courts throughout the country and has acted as an advocate in Supreme Court assessments on a number of occasions. His extensive experience includes conducting costs appeals in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, costs of arbitration (including challenges to arbitrators' fees), costs disputes between solicitors and their clients and those between professional Trustees and Beneficiaries of Trusts.

Alex frequently delivers training to lawyers on costs issues and teaches a module in costs litigation as part of an SRA-regulated Professional Skills Course.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
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Key definition:
Conditional fee agreement definition
What does Conditional fee agreement mean?

An agreement between legal representatives and a party that costs will only be payable in the event that a claim succeeds.

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