No Win No Fee

No Win No Fee

What is “No Win – No Fee”?   

We were one of the first compensation firms in Australia to offer “No Win – No Fee” terms for clients. Under our No Win - No Fee guarantee if your compensation claim is unsuccessful you don't have to pay us back anything. Unlike most other compensation lawyers, our terms extend not just to the charges for our time but also to expenses that we have paid out of our own pocket on your behalf. So if we don’t win you don’t even have to pay us back the money we have spent on your case. 

Not only do we make no charge until the end of your compensation case and then only from the result, but we also make it a priority to recover as much of your legal costs as possible from the insurance company. This maximises the amount of compensation you receive.

At Firths, you are not required to make out-of-pocket, upfront payments.

We understand that one of the biggest fears most people have when it comes to the legal system is – what is it going to cost? We understand that if money is tight, the last thing you should have to worry about is legal costs. 

To put your mind at rest we do not require any payment upfront at any time. We will cover all of the out-of-pocket expenses for you. We make no charge until the end of the case and then only if successful and then only from the result.

How much does it cost?  

One thing we’re often asked by clients is “What percentage do you take for costs?” The answer is that we don’t take any percentage. No compensation lawyer can because it is against the law in NSW. What we do is provide a fixed quote for our costs so that you know upfront what your compensation claim will cost. We know of no other compensation lawyers that will do that. 

Expenses, often called disbursements, include things like medical report fees paid to your doctors and court filing fees. We make no charge for these expenses until the end of the case and then only if we have been successful.

At Firths there are no nasty surprises? 

At Firths we understand that at the end of the day the thing that matters most is the amount of compensation you receive clear to you in the hand after all costs and expenses have been deducted. 

That is why at Firths we will always very carefully advise you what you would actually receive clear from any offer of settlement made by the insurance company. That way there are no nasty surprises at the end. That way you only decide to accept the offer if you are happy with the amount you have been told you will receive. 

We believe that peace of mind is important. That’s why we have taken the stress out of legal costs - we can get on with your case and you can get on with your recovery.

What are Disbursements?

Disbursements are the expenses that Firths pay out of its own pocket on your behalf in connection with your compensation claim, they include things like:

• medical report fees;
• expert report fees;
• court filing fees;
• court hearing fees;
• court transcript fees;
• service fees.

At Firths we keep disbursements to an absolute minimum. This can save you tens of thousands of dollars compared to other compensation lawyers who spend up big on disbursements.

Warning: May other compensation lawyers require you to pay their disbursements out of your pocket! But at Firths we cover them for you.

Warning: Many compensation lawyers require their clients to take out loans with money lenders to finance the disbursements. These loans have interest rates in excess of 20% and many people end up paying more to the money lenders for fees and interest than they receive themselves.

At Firths we never do that.

What Makes Firths Different?

Lump sum fixed fees

At the beginning of your matter we will give you a quote for our legal costs and we stick to this. Nearly all other compensation lawyers only give estimates. These are usually revised upwards as the matter progresses. Our lump sum fixed fee quote gives you certainty and peace of mind because you know right from the onset what our legal fees will be.

We do the work

Most other compensation lawyers subcontract most of the work to barristers and other agents and run up big disbursement bills that all come out of your settlement. At Firths we do the work ourselves. This can save you tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary disbursements.

We keep the disbursements to a minimum 

Most other compensation lawyers spend up big on disbursements all of which gets added to your bill. We know of cases where our competitors have run up $50,000 in disbursements which if we'd had the case we would have kept to less than $5,000. At Firths we aim to keep disbursements to a bare minimum. We only pay for what is absolutely necessary. This can save you thousands compared to our competitors.

We recover the costs from the opposition

At Firths we make it our business to recover as much as possible from the opposition. This is important because the more we get from them the more you end up with in your pocket.

The Bottom Line

Don't forget that at the end of the day it is the bottom line clear to you after all the costs and disbursements are deducted that matters. That is why it is so important not only to recover as much as possible from the insurance company but to keep the deductions as low as possible.

At Firths our aim is not only to maximise your compensation claim but also to minimise costs. That way you, the injured client, recover as much as possible.