COMMENT Conditional fee agreements originally covered a limited range of cases, but are now applied to insolvency, defamation, civil liberties, intellectual property, employment and many other areas of action. These agreements allow clients to agree with their lawyers that the lawyers will not receive all or part of the usual fees or expenses if the case is lost; if the case is won, on the other hand, the client agrees to pay an extra fee in addition to the normal fee. Insurance policies are available to people contemplating legal action to cover the costs of the other party and the client’s own fees if the case is lost.