Compensation solicitor news 28/12/2006

Outrage at no win, no fee claims

No win, no fee solicitors have been deemed a threat to the accomplishment of local government equal pay negotiations after an influx of successful related compensation claims from disgruntled employees.

Both trade unions and employees have launched an attack on no win, no fee solicitors who work under the conditional fee agreement, insisting that that they are "the biggest threat" to achieving agreeable settlements during an equal pay crisis that is likely to overwhelm councils.

All this came just two weeks after Local Government Employers warned that local authorities may collectively end up paying as much as £5bn in back-pay to female workers.

One no win, no fee solicitor in particular has taken the brunt of the attack. Stefan Cross, a Newcastle based solicitor, has represented many women working for councils as cleaners, carers and clerical staff in the North East and in Scotland.

Cross commented that his firm had dealt with more than 20,000 cases in Scotland alone, with the potential for another 50,000 and added that each person that makes a no win, no fee claim under his representation has the potential to receive between £15,000 and £20,000.

National secretary at the GMB union, has said, "Stefan Cross is not interested in achieving equal pay going forward, but only in making a fast buck from back-pay awards." It has even been slighted by the public sector union Unison that lawyers who take on such claims are merely interested in making money.

In his defence, Cross stated that he felt employers and unions were scheming to deny thousands of pounds in back-pay rightfully owed to women workers, " Deals are being negotiated between male union reps and male employers, and female workers are being kept in the dark"

He went on to say that, "Women have been discriminated against in local government for 30 years and these people are only interested in maintaining the status quo."

We at YouClaim would not be surprised if the number of compensation claims made against employers for unequal pay continue to rise and if solicitors like Stefan Cross continue to represent clients successfully under the no win, no fee agreement.