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Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

Miscellaneous provisions - Conditional fee agreements

334: Conditional fee agreements

You could also call this:

"Paying your lawyer based on the outcome of your case"

Illustration for Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006

You can have a special kind of agreement with your lawyer called a conditional fee agreement. This agreement says how much you pay your lawyer, and it depends on the outcome of your case. You might pay a normal fee, or a normal fee plus a bit extra. You can make this kind of agreement if it is not excluded by section 335, and if it follows the rules made by the practice rules. If you make this kind of agreement, your lawyer will not get in trouble for things like maintenance or champerty. This means your lawyer can enter into the agreement with you without worrying about those things.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM367824.

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Part 11Miscellaneous provisions
Conditional fee agreements

334Conditional fee agreements

  1. A conditional fee agreement is not an illegal contract or an unenforceable contract by reason only of the fact that the remuneration the lawyer may receive under it is dependent on the outcome of the matter to which the remuneration relates if—

  2. that remuneration is either—
    1. a normal fee; or
      1. a normal fee plus a premium; and
      2. the application of this section is not excluded by section 335; and
        1. the agreement complies with such requirements (if any) as are prescribed by the practice rules.

          1. If a conditional fee agreement is, by virtue of subsection (1), not an illegal contract or an unenforceable contract, a lawyer does not by entering into that agreement make himself or herself liable to proceedings founded on the tort of maintenance or the tort of champerty.