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Court of Appeal upholds need for informed approval of success fees (Herbert v HH Law Ltd)

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Published on: 04 April 2019

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert

Table of contents

What are the practical implications of this case?
What was the background?
What did the court decide?

Article summary

Dispute Resolution analysis: In Herbert v HH Law Ltd, the Court of Appeal upheld the reduction of a success fee under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) on the basis that a claimant had not provided informed approval of the level of the success fee; and that a starting point of 100% regardless of risk was unusual. However, it reinstated an after the event (ATE) insurance premium that had not been on the solicitor’s invoice on the basis that such premiums are not solicitors’ disbursements and therefore do not need to be included within an invoice. Written by Alex Bagnall, costs lawyer at Total Legal Solutions.

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