Conditional Fees : Key to the Courthouse or the Casino?

In order for the lawyer to maintain a "perfect poise" amidst a variety of conflicting duties, the lawyer must have a level foundation. Without it, subtle yet critical imbalances will occur. On the surface, the introduction of "no win, no fee," or conditional fees, to England and Wales is simply the introduction of another way of compensating lawyers. They are being introduced as a "key to the courthouse ' that will provide vital access to justice for members of the community who are increasingly ineligible for legal aid. While this may be true, it ignores the more basic and fundamental effect which the seeds of conditional fees will sow: a shift in the foundation of the legal profession. This shift is caused because the "no win, no fee" system changes the dynamics of the legal profession by giving lawyers a financial stake in the outcome of the case. The lawyer is no longer an independent professional adviser but a business agent because he has become part of an economic transaction. The administration of justice depends on the confidence of the Bench and the public in the legal profession. It also requires confidence by members of the legal profession in one another. A financial motivation to win a case, as conditional fees introduce, upsets this balance