No win, No fee means that the firm will take the risk of running the claim on your behalf and will not seek to charge you professional fees until you have ‘won’ your claim. Each firm will have their own definition of what a “win” entails and for this reason it is important that you read your client agreement or engagement document very carefully to ensure that you fully understand when the firm will raise an invoice in your matter.

At Far North Injury Lawyers, we classify a “win” as when you have instructed us to accept an amount that finalises your claim, or, in litigated matters, where the Court makes an order in favour of the Plaintiff.

In personal injuries law, where a law firm acts for you on a no win, no fee basis, they are allowed to charge an uplift fee of up to 25% on top of your professional fees. This was designed to compensate the firm for taking the risk of your matter as the firm does not get paid until the successful conclusion of your claim. Sometimes rather unfortunately, where there is no “win”, the firm does not get paid.

The uplift was originally designed to reflect the risk of the delay of payment or the complexity of the claim as firms still have overheads and expenses to pay during the course of your claim. Regrettably, some firms have adopted this uplift as standard practice which significantly increases the hourly rate you will pay. Some firms may include a further charge of “care and consideration” of up to 25%. Where firms include both, the hourly rate charged is significantly inflated and does not reflect the “base” rate outlined in their client agreement.

Far North Injury Lawyers will only charge an uplift where it is clear a matter is extremely complex, however in most cases, an uplift will not need to be applied. Your client agreement will outline whether we propose to charge an uplift fee. We do not charge additional “care and consideration” fees either.

No. Far North Injury Lawyers guarantee you the majority of your net settlement funds.

The legislation in Queensland provides that a firm who acts on a no win, no fee basis must not take more than half of the net settlement amount by way of their fees. That is, the settlement amount, less any statutory refunds, less expenses actually incurred by the firm (called disbursements). This is known as the “50/50 rule” or the “Law Society Cap”.

Far North Injury Lawyers have reduced this limit, and will only charge you a maximum of 40% of your net settlement amount rather than the 50% adopted by many other firms. As our fees are lower and we don’t charge an uplift or other additional fees, it would be a rare circumstance for the cap to be in play, and this is why we can guarantee you the majority of your net settlement funds, not just half.

There is no catch. We are a small, locally owned and operated firm without the big firm overheads, and without the pressures of big firm targets. This means that we will only charge you for the work that we do. Our staff are not under pressure to meet billing or other time recording targets.

Our Principal Solicitor has more than 15 years experience working within personal injuries and therefore has developed the most cost effective and efficient processes for running claims. As we only have our own local office to support, we can genuinely offer reduced rates together with a personalised, individual service.