Check a Victorian conditional costs agreement and uplift
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the draft agreement, mark writing, plain language, the successful outcome, the client's signature, the independent-advice statement and cooling-off of at least five clear business days, and if there is an uplift set out its basis, estimate or range, and percentage of legal costs excluding disbursements. Do not decide that an uplift is permitted.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether a conditional agreement is allowed for this matter
- For a litigious matter, decide whether a successful outcome is reasonably likely before any uplift
- Reject an uplift above 25 per cent of the legal costs excluding disbursements
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Legal Profession Uniform Law as applied in Victoria
Produce. A marked-up conditional costs agreement for the lawyer to settle.
Have ready. Draft agreement; Lawyer's description of the successful outcome; Uplift calculation if one is proposed.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: A draft for a litigious injury claim states an uplift of 25 per cent of professional fees and five clear business days' cooling-off. The markup records those points and leaves the reasonable-likelihood belief for the lawyer.
Stop and hand it back when
- The matter may be criminal or under the Family Law Act.
- The uplift is above 25 per cent or is calculated on disbursements.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the draft agreement, mark writing, plain language, the successful outcome, the client's signature, the independent-advice statement and cooling-off of at least five clear business days, and if there is an uplift set out its basis, estimate or range, and percentage of legal costs excluding disbursements. Do not decide that an uplift is permitted. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Section 181(7) does not allow a conditional costs agreement for criminal proceedings, Family Law Act 1975 proceedings, or proceedings specified in the Uniform Rules. Personal injury is not in that list. The lawyer still checks the rules.
- The agreement must be in writing and plain language, state the successful outcome, be signed by the client, include the independent-advice statement, and give at least five clear business days to terminate. Cooling-off does not apply to an agreement between law practices only.
- If the client terminates in the cooling-off period, the practice may recover only the informed work done in that period, and may not recover an uplift.
- Section 182: in a litigious matter there must be a reasonable belief that a successful outcome is reasonably likely, and the uplift must not exceed 25 per cent of the legal costs excluding disbursements.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| New matter checklist | Checklist | AI use Yellow | Checklist for opening a plaintiff injury file: identity, conflicts, the diary, costs disclosure, authorities, and consent before health records go into a tool. |
| Queensland speculative personal injury costs agreement | Agreement | AI use Yellow | A Queensland conditional costs agreement for a speculative personal injury claim, where fees are not worked out from the settlement. |
| Cooling-off letter for a conditional costs agreement | Letter | AI use Yellow | A letter telling the client they can end a conditional costs agreement by written notice in a cooling-off period of at least five clear business days, and what may be charged if they do. |
| Letter when the retainer ends | Letter | AI use Yellow | A letter when the firm stops acting, setting out any costs still sought. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Legal Profession Uniform Law s 181, conditional costs agreements · 2026-10-23
- Legal Profession Uniform Law s 182, conditional costs agreements involving uplift fees · 2026-10-23
Victoria applies the Uniform Law. The text opened is that Law's compilation. There is no Queensland-style section 347 cap in these sections.
The client signs the agreement. It is not a document filed in court.