A conditional fee agreement or CFA is an agreement with a legal representative which provides for his or her fees and expenses, or any part of them, to be paid only in certain circumstances – usually only if the client wins the case.
Conditional fee agreements—definition and requirements
If dealing with personal injury cases, see: PI and clinical negligence developments—overview.
For information on discussions to be had with your client about methods of funding, see: Information on costs—overview.
Abbreviations
This Practice Note uses the following abbreviations:
| ATE insurance | After the event insurance |
| CFA | Conditional fee agreement |
| CLSA 1990 | Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 |
| AJA 1999 | Access to Justice Act 1999 |
| CFA order, SI 2000/823 | Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2000, SI 2000/823 |
| CFA order, SI 2013/689 | Conditional Fee Agreements Order, SI 2013/689 |
What is a CFA?
A CFA is defined 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; and
A conditional fee agreement provides for a success fee if it provides for the amount of any fees to which it applies to be increased, in specified circumstances, above the amount which would be payable if it were not payable only in specified circumstances’
A CFA is therefore an agreement between a legal representative and their client whereby the legal representative will be paid a different level of fee depending on the outcome of the case. If the agreed result:
- •is achieved—the legal representative will be paid a higher fee
- •is not achieved—the legal representative will charge a lower rate or in some cases will not charge the client at