The great divide

Victoria Cargill untangles the threads of the ongoing referral fee debate

Since the publication of the Legal Services Board (LSB) report on referral fees there has been much debate on their role in the legal profession with a particular onus on their impact in personal injury claims (LSB economic analysis, May 17, 2010). It’s an emotive subject and referral fees have been a dividing factor between the claimant and defendant sides of the profession since the ban on referral fees was lifted in March 2004. When this happened the battle lines were drawn and both sides have been entrenched ever since.

The problem with addressing the issue is that while the question looks simple to answer—does a referral fee provide any benefit to civil litigation?—the reality is more complicated. We are dealing with not just financial elements