Addleshaws to adapt contingency fees post-Jackson
Addleshaw Goddard is ready to embrace a contingency fee regime if it comes into force in England and Wales, as recommended by Lord Justice Jackson last week (14 January).
Simon Twigden
The High Court judge made the proposal as part of his wider review into civil litigation costs.
The review proposed that after-the-event premiums and success fees should no longer be recoverable in conditional fee arrangements because the model is plagued with flaws that build up costs and block access to justice.
Instead, said Jackson LJ, as many funding methods as possible should be made available to litigants.
Addleshaws head of litigation Simon Twigden said the firm has “serious reservations” about abolishing recoverability, but that contingency fees would be welcomed.
“If a properly regulated contingency fee regime is implemented, it would represent a revolutionary public policy change that would deliver even better access to justice,” he said. “This is precisely what our clients want and we’re ready to pioneer the use of these arrangements in the highest courts.”
