Personal injury lawyers may be forced out of business unless they improve risk management when taking on conditional fee agreements (CFAs). That's according to a new report by Sweet & Maxwell.
The report warns that with the demise of legal aid, such agreements ought to be normal practice for all personal injury claims.
But, a Sweet & Maxwell spokesman warned: "A successful personal injury practice must be founded on suitable and sufficient risk assessment on a case-by-case basis.
"Risk management controls are needed to prevent a firm taking on cases if it does not have the required combination of knowledge, experience and expertise to identify the risks involved."
The legal group's report, "CFAs and Risk Assessment in Practice", offers the expertise of both the practitioner and the insurer.
The report includes up-to-date coverage of the landmark judgments, including Halloran v Delaney [2002], which raised the profile of no-win, no-fee cases.
