Dmitry Uryakin has commented for Pravo.ru on the legalisation of success fees

On 1 March 2020, amendments to the Law on Advocacy and the Legal Profession came into force, enshrining the right to a success fee for holders of the advocate’s status.  Litigators can now make their fees contingent on the outcome of their own work and only take payment after the successful completion of the proceedings. Despite the formal stipulation in  the Law on Advocacy and the Legal Profession, the legalisation of this tool is seen by the legal community as fully recognising this method of remuneration for all litigators, irrespective of their status.

Dmitry Uryakin, a lawyer at Maxima Legal, explained to Pravo.ru legal portal that the success fee is attractive for clients because it reduces the debt burden here and now and allows easy enough to vary the fee for consultants. However, the expert clarified that Maxima Legal uses the discussed model in dealing with clients whose good conscience has not previously been doubted.

In addition, Dmitry stressed that he does not support “pure” success fees. “A consultant who has made every effort to defend a client is entitled to a fee regardless of the outcome, which in our legal environment, unfortunately, is not always possible to predict,” explained the lawyer.

Dmitriy also highlighted the problematic aspects hindering the development of the mechanism. According to him, clients and consultants are discouraged by the inability to recover success fees as court costs from the procedural opponent and the losing party. The final amount of court costs expressed in the “success fee” can and should be adjusted by the courts to “reasonable limits,” concluded the lawyer.

To read the full article (in Russian), please see Pravo.ru website >>>