3 ms·

In the UK lawyers have insurance to cover them in case they lose. This encourages them to take pro-bono cases when there is a decent chance of winning.

• joecool1029 6y ago
  >This encourages them to take pro-bono cases It was my understanding that pro-bono is under rate or free services, correct me if I'm wrong. I think the terminology you're looking for is 'contingent', where the client only pays a % fee to attorney if they manage to generate a judgement. In this case, does the UK insurance kick in to pay a fee to lawyer if they lose the case? I'm talking about civil cases here, not criminal.
  • dnh44 6y ago
    You’re correct regarding the terminology. A friend of mine had a law firm take their (civil) case on a contingency basis and there was an insurance policy to cover the lawyer’s time in case they lost.
• Fogest 6y ago
  That sounds like a pretty neat system. I assume lawyers can't take on a bunch of obvious shitty cases just to get the insurance money right? I assume the insurance companies would raise premiums or stop insuring them if the lawyer is losing a lot?
  • biot 6y ago
    The insurance payout doesn’t go to the lawyer who lost.
    • cyrrus 6y ago
      If it’s to cover them in case they lost who does it go to?
      • biot 6y ago
        I think I misread and assumed it was to pay the legal costs of the winner. But that would be the responsibility of the client, not the lawyer.
• rland 6y ago
  What an interesting line of work that would be. I wonder how they calculate risk for such a policy.