Cross-industry co-operation in the conditional fee agreement (CFA) world has stepped up, with work on simplifying CFAs, agreeing success fees in employers' liability (EL) cases and abolishing the indemnity principle all under way, it has emerged.

The Gazette's sister magazine, Litigation Funding, reveals this month that the government is seeking industry agreement before it officially publishes a response to its simplifying CFAs consultation, which was issued last summer.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has accepted the solution of transplanting client-care provisions from the CFA regulations to the solicitors' practice rules, as suggested by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, at last year's Civil Justice Council (CJC) costs forum.

It is considered that the move is appropriate now that the system has been in place for a few years.

In line with the CJC's aim to reach cross-industry consensus, the DCA is working with the professional bodies and representative groups so as to present, in effect, a fait accompli.

It should be published this spring.

In a further move towards consensus, the first CJC-sponsored mediation to set success fees in EL cases was held late last month amid growing pressure on claimant solicitors to agree to the principle of a fixed-fee scheme as well.

Following a report from the Department of Work and Pensions late last year which floated the move, the DCA is said to be interested in extending fixed fees to EL, while influential judges are known to consider it the next logical step.

One source close to the issue said there was a 'tacit acceptance' that talks will move towards this.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has said there should be no move towards extending fixed fees beyond the scheme for low-value road traffic cases that settle pre-issue until that scheme - in place since October - can be properly evaluated.

The Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) supports fixed fees.

Meanwhile, the CJC has taken on work to abolish the indemnity principle.

It has set up a working group chaired by Toby Hooper QC, whose members include: Senior Costs Judge Peter Hurst, APIL president David Marshall, former FOIL president Jason Rowley, and representatives from the DCA and Law Society.

With several issues still to be resolved - such as whether abolition requires primary legislation, and if so, how it would be framed - it is thought the DCA had no plans to make the indemnity principle a priority.

However, if the CJC can propose a solution acceptable to all parties, the DCA may be encouraged to take it forward.

Still, it appears unlikely that a slot for primary legislation would be found in the future, and the working group will also investigate whether any interim relief can be introduced through the Civil Procedure Rules, especially for collective CFAs.

Costs expert Professor John Peysner, who also sits on the CJC, said the road traffic scheme had given impetus to other issues.

'People have got used to working together and having confidence in each other.

The negotiations are far more fruitful than they were two years ago.'

By Neil Rose