Litigation is expensive, and the loser usually pays the winner's costs as well as their own. For many clients that risk alone decides whether a worthwhile claim is ever brought. Part of your job as a solicitor is to manage that risk — checking what cover a client already has, arranging new cover where it's needed, and explaining plainly what proceeding without it means. Litigation insurance is one of the core funding tools you'll reach for, and clients rely on you to get the advice right.
This lesson walks you through it step by step:
- Nature and Types — what litigation insurance protects against and the split between before-the-event and after-the-event cover.
- Before-the-Event (BTE) Insurance — where BTE cover hides, the terms to check, and the traps around notification and settlement.
- Choice of Solicitor under BTE — when a client must use a panel firm, when they can pick their own, and who pays any shortfall.
- After-the-Event (ATE) Insurance — what ATE covers, how it pairs with conditional fee agreements, and how premiums are structured.
- Recoverability and QOCS — how LASPO changed who pays the premium, and how QOCS shields personal injury claimants.
- The Solicitor's Professional Duties — what you must investigate, advise on, and disclose to act in the client's best interests.