Self-study
P1
In October 1999, the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (LRCWA) issued its report, "Review of the Civil and Criminal Justice System." Buried within its 400 pages are several important recommendations for introducing contingency fees for lawyers' services into the state of Western Australia. ███████████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ███████ █████████ ██████ ███████ █████
Context ·
LRCWA introduced contingency-fee agreements
These are agreements where a lawyer is paid only if the case is successful. Because of the higher risk involved, contingency fees tend to be higher than regular fees.
P2
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LRCWA recommends uplift Fee ·
A type of contingency fee
"Uplift" in the sense that a lawyer's regular fee will be paid plus a fixed additional percentage.
LRCWA Rationale ·
Prevent lawyers from disproportionate gain
And hence safeguards just compensation to plaintiffs.
LRCWA Recommendation Details ·
Two requirements for uplift fees
1. This contingency-fee arrangement must be used only a last resort; 2. The lawyer must know that the client is unable to pay normal fee.
P3
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Critique ·
Too onerous for lawyers
Requires lawyers to investigate client's financial circumstances and estimate probable cost of litigation.
P4
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Critique ·
Unfair; limits freedom of contract
Why should contingency-fee agreements be available to only the least well-off clients?
Critique ·
Main reasons for contingency-fee agreements apply to everyone
1. to provide a way to finance litigation; 2. to shift risk of loss to lawyers.
Critique ·
Contingency-fee agreements better align interests
It gives lawyers skin in the game and so should increase their diligence and commitment.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
26.
According to the passage, the ███████ ██████ ███████████ ████ ███████████████ ██████████
a
be used only ████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ████████████ ████ ████████ ████████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ █████
The author says
b
be used only ██ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ██ ███████ ████████ ███████
This is not stated in the passage. The author never mentions cases with especially high damage awards.
c
be used if ███ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ ██ ████ █ ███████ █████ ███ ███ ████████ ███████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██ ████████████
(C) provides a sufficient condition: the agreement should be used if a lawyer is not certain that the client could pay. But the LRCWA report gives a necessary condition: the agreement should be used only if the lawyer is certain the client cannot pay.
d
not be used ██ █████ ██ █████ ███████ ████ ██ ███████████ ██ ███████████
This is stated
e
not be used ██████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ███ ███████ ████████████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ████████ ████
This says that contingency-fee agreements should only be used in cases where the lawyer thinks that the damage awards will cover the lawyer’s fees. This is not stated in the passage. In fact, the LRCWA says that the lawyer must know that the client can’t pay the normal fee “in the event that sufficient damages are not awarded.”