Re McCann's relationship with Carter Ruck:
No-Win, No-Fee – No More?
Posted on January 13, 2012 by Isabel Martorell
In 1999, changes to the rules on litigation funding opened up the possibility of bringing a wide range of cases under Conditional Fee Agreements (or ‘no-win, no-fee agreements’ as they are colloquially known). At a time of legal aid cuts, the changes were intended to ensure access to justice for all; not just for the wealthy.
Carter-Ruck was one of the firms which pioneered a CFA scheme which over the years has allowed us to act for hundreds of litigants who would not otherwise have been able to afford to bring an action.
Initially, the majority of these cases were for libel, but we have acted on a no-win, no-fee basis in a number of other types of claim. Merely by way of example:
> A class action by 45 individual claimants against two multi-national Banks for their part in the negligent mis-selling of a pension product that the claimants had purchased. The claim concerned a failed UK pension liberation scheme and offshore trust and administration services and was worth in excess of £20 million.
> A privacy claim for a soldier’s wife whose photograph was used by the Daily Mirror – entirely misleadingly – to illustrate a story about women being unfaithful to their husbands while serving in Iraq.
> A local councillor on incapacity benefits, who suffered serial libel and harassment over several years by a multi-millionaire businessman who accused her of theft and corruption.
> A breach of contract claim against a company which had failed to pay commissions earned by a sales agent.
> A claim for a retired academic against a record company, for breaching copyrights he held in four music editions and for refusing to acknowledge his rights or to pay him royalties.
> A (defendant) Danish radiologist sued for libel by US conglomerate GE Healthcare over allegations concerning one of its products.
> A Muslim IT worker whom the Daily Mail falsely alleged was to be suspected of unlawfully stabbing a man at his house and of being a supporter of Al Qaeda.
> A comprehensive school teacher, falsely accused in an internal Memorandum of inappropriate contact with female pupils.
>
Kate and Gerry McCann. http://www.carter-ruck.com/Blog/?p=180
