Buying SGH, page-183

I am a barrister. As a general rule no win no fee work is for personal injury type work and will dispute cases ie the kind of work that Slater & Gordon is known for. It occurs in personal injury litigation because the client has a proven injury but does not have the funds to pay until a judgment is given. In theory it is high risk but you only take cases that have a strong prospect of success and it is permitted to charge an "uplift fee" of around 25% for taking on the risk.

Generally speaking commercial, crime, family etc barristers wouldn't do no win no fee. I do commercial and tax work so don't do it.

A barrister's client is the solicitor so if SGH goes bust any unpaid fees most likely wouldn't be paid. Thats why the List A barristers have been advised to only do work when there is money in a trust account (ie paid in anticipation of future work). Slater & Gordon just can't do work that way. It is a big problem for them for their personal injury litigation practice.