CLIC - Contribution required under the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme

If your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid do not exceed $20,000, you do not need to pay any fee for obtaining Legal Aid. The financial resources of an applicant who is receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will normally be considered as NOT exceeding $20,000 (unless there is any evidence to the contrary).

If your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid are between $20,001 and $162,300, you will have to pay a contribution ranging from $1,000 to $40,575 upon acceptance of Legal Aid.

This contribution fee is all you have to pay for the legal services if you eventually lose in the proceedings or cannot recover any money or property.

However, if you win and recover or preserve any money or property, you also need to pay for the legal costs incurred by the Director of Legal Aid on your behalf but which cannot be recovered from your opponent. The unrecoverable legal costs will (1) first be deducted from the contribution already paid and then (2) from the money or property recovered or preserved.

For example, if (1) your have paid a contribution fee of $10,000, (2) you succeed in your claim and recover $1,000,000 from the other party, (3) the legal costs incurred by the Director of Legal Aid on your behalf amount to $400,000, and (4) the legal costs recoverable from the other party amount to $300,000, then the net sum you can receive will be $910,000 [i.e.This is the $1,000,000 settlement sum, minus the shortfall in legal costs of $90,000. The $90,000 results from the total legal costs of $400,000 minus the $300,000 in legal costs recovered from the other party and your contribution fee of $10,000.]