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The joy of damages-based agreements

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17 March 2023 / Richard Spector
Issue: 8017 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Costs , Legal services
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Highs, lows, successes & appreciative clients—Richard Spector shares his personal experience of damages-based agreements
  • Presents a solicitor’s personal experience of running damages-based agreement cases.
  • A low experience was where satellite litigation reduced the fee despite the case succeeding.
  • Outcomes are mainly positive, with good returns especially where cases settle early, and strengthens bonds between solicitor and client.

I have always thought of myself as one of the few solicitors who is a leading proponent of damages-based agreements (DBAs). DBAs are a form of fee agreement whereby the solicitor acts on a no-win no-fee basis and is entitled to a percentage of any damages recovered by the client.

DBAs were introduced by the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013, SI 2013/609, and have not proven overly popular among solicitors so far. Solicitors have been reluctant to take on the additional risk of a DBA where, if they lose, they get nothing at all and, if they win, their fees depend on the amount of damages recovered. Damages are always strongly

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