Unenforceable CFAs and subsequent claims (FPH Law v Brown)

Article summary

Dispute Resolution analysis: Mrs Justice Slade has held that a law firm can pursue a contractual claim for damages against a former partner in respect of the loss of the opportunity to settle a costs claim where the costs were subject to a conditional fee agreement (CFA) which was subsequently declared to be unenforceable. The fact that the CFA was later found to be unenforceable did not impact where there had been no such determination at the point in time when the claimant's contractual cause of action had arisen. The judge stopped short of determining whether a declaration that the CFA was unenforceable meant that it was also illegal as a matter of public policy—this was not a question she needed to determine in the present case.