Check a costs agreement does not calculate the fee from the outcome
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Read the costs agreement the lawyer supplies and flag any clause under which the amount payable to the law practice, or any part of it, is calculated by reference to the amount of any award or settlement or the value of any property that may be recovered in proceedings to which the agreement relates. Record the exception to the extent the agreement adopts an applicable fixed costs legislative provision, without stating what that provision says. Record that a contravention is capable of constituting unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct by a principal or associate involved. Do not convert the stated civil penalty into dollars.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether a clause calculates the fee from the outcome, whether the fixed-costs exception applies, and whether the agreement can be made.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Read the costs agreement the lawyer supplies and flag any clause under which the amount payable to the law practice, or any part of it, is calculated by reference to the amount of any award or settlement or the value of any property that may be recovered in proceedings to which the agreement relates. Record the exception to the extent the agreement adopts an applicable fixed costs legislative provision, without stating what that provision says. Record that a contravention is capable of constituting unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct by a principal or associate involved. Do not convert the stated civil penalty into dollars. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- A clause is flagged only where the fee, or part of it, is calculated from an award, a settlement, or the value of property that may be recovered.
- An uplift on the practice's own fees is not treated as this prohibition.
- The fixed-costs exception is recorded as an exception whose content was not opened.
- The civil penalty stays as 100 penalty units.
Sources
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.