As it comes to year anniversary of the launch of FeeSolve, leading European law firm, Fieldfisher announces it is the first in the market to develop an exclusive DBA insurance solution.
The policy will guarantee a proportion of the firm's unbilled WIP and disbursements at the end of the case.
Whilst DBA insurance has been available for years, this product covers a portfolio of cases directly funded by the firm. It is the first of its kind and no third party funder is involved.
Commenting on the product, Tony Lewis, dispute resolution partner and Head of FeeSolve at Fieldfisher, says:
“This product is a real challenge to funders in the market and incredibly timely. In the new COVID 19 world, businesses more than ever are looking at how they can manage costs. We are providing certainty of cost for clients and showing that we have skin in the game, without the need for funders. We are taking the risk and costs off of businesses bottom line. Why should clients share a hefty portion of their winnings with funders when they can work directly with us on a more competitive basis?
To date the firm has triaged over 20 cases with the rate of new enquiries growing month on month.
Tony adds: "We take this seriously. This is a national project involving all of our UK offices, including our Belfast Hub Office. We've restructured internally to provide an unbiased and independent assessment of the chance of winning, the likely costs to the firm of completing the case and then putting that profile into context alongside the existing risks in areas across the firm where we already do contingent work.
"The Contingency Committee meet every month to review the level of contingent cases across the firm, review and approve new CFA or DBA cases and to consider the extent to which the firm's fees and disbursement outlay that are at risk should be insured. Each member brings a unique perspective from either a financial, partnership or disputes perspective.
The committee consists of:
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Michael Chissick, Managing Partner
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Mike Giles, Finance Director
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Paul McNeil, Head of Personal Injury and Medical Negligence
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David Wilkinson, Senior Partner
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Colin Gibson, Head of Dispute Resolution
He finishes:
"Now more than ever businesses need certainty around costs and FeeSolve provides that."
For more information on Fieldfisher’s FeeSolve service, please visit the FeeSolve pages the Fieldfisher website.