Queensland Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2007 - SECT 324

324 Conditional costs agreements involving uplift fees

(1) A conditional costs agreement may provide for the payment of an uplift fee.

(2) The basis of calculation of the uplift fee must be separately identified in the agreement.

(3) The agreement must contain an estimate of the uplift fee or, if that is not reasonably practicable, both of the following—

(a) a range of estimates of the uplift fee;

(b) an explanation of the major variables that will affect the calculation of the uplift fee.

(4) If a conditional costs agreement relates to a litigious matter, the uplift fee must not exceed 25% of the legal costs, excluding disbursements, otherwise payable.

(5) However, this Act does not affect the right of a law practice to discount its fees and, if a law practice does discount its fees, the reference in subsection (4) to legal costs is the fees the law practice would have charged if the law practice’s fees had not been discounted.

(6) A law practice must not enter into a costs agreement in contravention of this section.

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.