• Bill 178 An Act to amend the Solicitors Act to permit and to regulate contingency fee agreements was introduced in September 2002. This Bill replaced Bill 25 of the same name, which had been introduced in May 2002.
• On December 9, 2002, Bill 213, the Justice Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002, received Royal Assent, following unanimous passage in the Legislature.
• Schedule A amends the Solicitors Act to provide a regulatory framework for contingency fee agreements, and includes the following regulatory controls:
• • Requires all contingency fee agreements to be made in writing;
  • Prohibits contingency fees in criminal, quasi-criminal and family law matters;
  • Precludes lawyers from collecting both the pre-determined contingency fee and legal costs paid by another party, unless approved by a judge;
  • Allows client to collect full payment for an award of costs, even if it exceeds the amount payable under a contingency fee agreement, if the award is used to pay the client's solicitor;
  • Authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to "make regulations governing contingency fees", including prescribing a maximum percentage that can be charged as a contingency fee; and
  • Allows the courts to review contingency fee contracts and to endorse negotiated fees above the prescribed standards where it is fair to do so.
• The amendments have not yet been proclaimed.

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