Solicitors use IT to sway judges on CFA calculations

Personal injury solicitors will soon be able to use IT to convince judges that their assessments of success fees in conditional fee agreements (CFAs) are reasonable, it was suggested this week.

Six firms will next month begin piloting Risk Assessment in Litigation (RAIL), the legal software product which determines the extent of risk in cases and calculates success fees.The software comes in CD-ROM format, and the results of the risk assessment comply with the CFA regulations 2000.The project, pioneered by after-the-event insurance provider Litigation Protection, is part-funded by the European Social Fund in a bid to help small law firms cope with legal aid reforms under the Access to Justice Act 1999.Litigation Protection began developing the package after solicitors complained that financial risk had been transferred from the government to law firms - because of issues over the recoverability of success fees and insurance premiums - after legal aid was abandoned in favour of CFAs in personal injury work.

Tim Harris, litigation partner at Leeds-based Morrish & Co, one of the six firms involved in the pilot, said the system would provide firms with an easy way of reaching a conclusion on the realistic chances of success, and also give judges concrete evidence that assessments of fees were fair and objective.'At the moment, there is no real formula to enable people to look at cases and say the chances of success are X, Y, or Z,' he explained.

'This system prints out a piece of paper with its calculations and you can then hopefully thrust it under the judge's nose and say, "We have not plucked this success fee out of thin air, we have really looked at the merits of the case".'Brian Raincock, Litigation Protection's managing director, said: 'RAIL will prove an invaluable tool to help solicitors control risk and their exposure to financial loss.'Paula Rohan