The government legal fee reforms from last year have resulted in most lawyers now taking at least 25% from their client’s payout to cover a Success Fee which is no longer recoverable from the other side.
Some people have entered in to agreements without realising that they will face potentially huge deductions, and when they get to the point where they have realised what they could lose some money, they want to change to a different lawyer.
So if this has happened to you, can you change solicitors and get a better deal elsewhere?
You may find it very hard to get a new lawyer to enter in to an agreement with you for several reasons. Most cases are subject to fixed fees now, so if you instruct another law firm, they will have to share fixed fees with your first firm. Normally you cannot just walk away from a solicitor if you are in agreement with them. If you withdraw instructions early its likely they will want their fees paying.
As well as a fixed fee being shared between two law firms, neither of them can recover their Success Fee which is how the 25% has come about in the first pace. The deductions are largely down to the government stopping the recovery of the Success Fee which can now be taken from your payout and is capped at 25% – hence why 25% is common as most law firms taken the fill amount.
There can be additional charges for insurance and other costs, and there may even be additional percentages to cover other fees as well.
But if you want to change to another law firm, you could end up with two lawyers sharing a fixed fee of between £500 to £1,000 – which is not enough to run a claim at all. And because neither can recover a success fee, both will likely want to take their own percentage from you. If both want the standard 25%, then you could end up with 50% of your claim wiped out!
As such it isn’t very easy nowadays to switch to a new law firm. If you have agreed to some paperwork that has deductions and costs involved, you are bound to the terms of that agreement.
So think carefully before instructing a law firm and make sure you fully understand that charges involved. Instruct a firm who is upfront and honest about the costs involved so you know exactly where you stand to make sure there are no nasty surprises later on down the line of the case.