For many women and families, the fear of legal costs is the single biggest barrier to seeking advice about a birth injury claim. The uncertainty alone — not knowing what a claim might cost or whether they can afford it — is enough to stop people from asking questions they deserve to have answered.
The reality is more straightforward than most people expect. Birth injury claims at Birth Injury Lawyers are run on a no win, no fee basis — meaning no upfront legal costs. In a successful claim, most legal costs are paid by the other side as party/party costs. Those are distinct from solicitor/client costs, which represent the total costs owed to your own lawyer — and while party/party costs do not cover the full amount, the gap between the two is a known quantity, not a surprise. Disbursements — out-of-pocket expenses such as expert reports and court filing fees — are a separate consideration, and understanding how they are handled from the outset is an important part of financial transparency in any claim.
Whether a claim is run in the District Court or the Supreme Court also affects how costs work in practice, with the appropriate court determined by the nature and value of the claim.
In this episode of the Birth Injury Lawyers Podcast, award-winning lawyer Anthony Porthouse takes the mystery out of what a birth injury claim actually costs — covering no win no fee, party/party versus solicitor/client costs, disbursements, the stepped lump sum approach, and the Medicare-style cost gap, in plain language and with concrete terms.
