Glossary
Article Two refers to Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article Two only lists campaigns in the spirit of Article 2 of the ICCPR.
Barristers appear in court as advocates who argue their client’s case. They also prepare for court, advise about litigation, and provide specialist legal advice. By law, they have to be sole traders and cannot be employed in a law firm, so they don’t get paid as an employee if they take a matter pro bono. This means they may not get paid at all.
Claim farming is “when a person gets your contact information and contacts you without you asking them to and wants to talk to you about bad things that have happened in your life”. That person could pressure a client to make a legal claim, and the person would get paid for referring the client to a lawyer. Article Two does not encourage any particular claim and does not match clients to lawyers. We support clients making informed decisions with their lawyers about any potential claim.
A costs order is an order made by a court that one party should pay some of the legal fees of the other party. The usual rule is “costs follow the event”, meaning that the winner gets paid a proportion of their legal costs. The loser not having money is not a recognised reason to make an exception to this rule. However, there are some exceptions. Judges have chosen not to make the usual costs order where the plaintiff brought the litigation in the public interest, such as to clarify a law that was affecting a large group of people, or when a case is arguable and raises significant issues about interpretation of a law. This does not always happen.
Sometimes a barrister will agree to act on a direct access basis without a solicitor. This arrangement can be appropriate sometimes, but it might need more effort from the client. There are special rules to protect the client in these circumstances.
Funds in trust means that a lawyer has money in their trust account to work on your case. The money belongs to you, but it is in the lawyer’s trust account so that the lawyer can be sure you have capacity to pay for the work done. Any unused money is returned to you. Any funds raised on Article Two are transferred to a lawyer’s trust account, if they have one.
A jurisdiction is a legal playing field where a set of laws apply. Tribunals and courts have jurisdiction if they have the power to make a decision about something.
Lawyer and legal practitioner both mean a lawyer admitted to practice in their jurisdiction. Legal practitioner is just the term used in the law to describe a lawyer. A legal representative is the lawyer that is retained by the client.
We use legal practice to describe the different ways lawyers can practice: private law firm, barrister, community legal centre, legal academic with a little practice.
A litigation funder is a firm or company that third-party funds litigation run by another law firm in exchange for a portion of the fees. This is usually large litigation, like a class action. Litigation funders generally decide to fund litigation by calculating the prospects of success of the claim and expecting a return on investment. Article Two is not a litigation funder.
Low bono means that a lawyer takes less of a fee than their usual rates. Some lawyers offer this for clients who have difficulty paying full legal fees.
Maintenance and champerty are legal doctrines that used to outlaw a third party contributing to the legal costs of a client pursuing litigation. This was to prevent people from stirring up litigation at no risk to themselves. However, in Australia these doctrines have mostly been abolished by statute, and there is an argument that maintenance was never intended to outlaw a donation to a person who needed legal representation to obtain redress for wrongs done to them. If you hear someone in Australia talking about maintenance and champerty, it is likely to be irrelevant for litigation here.
Paralegals work with lawyers to file documents, research law, prepare documents, and communicate with clients. They are essential to a healthy legal practice. They can also keep legal fees down because their work prevents lawyers from having to do less technical work at higher prices.
Pro bono means that a lawyer receives no pay (other than a salary, for most solicitors) for representing their client in a case. The Australian Pro Bono Centre defines pro bono to include legal services supplied at a substantially reduced fee. This means that some solicitors or barristers who are paid through Article Two still do pro bono work if they are paid much less than they normally would be for the same kind of work.
Public interest law is any use of law to improve the rights of people and the environment, including law reform advocacy, letters written to politicians with legal advice, complaints to regulatory and integrity bodies, and litigation. There is no single definition of public interest law.
Solicitors are the lawyers who have a lot of client contact, give legal advice, and prepare documents such as applications and witness affidavits. They can work on transactions, draft white papers, or write bills. In litigation, they usually work with barristers, who appear in court. Most clients start by contacting a law firm of solicitors.
Strategic litigation, or impact litigation, is intended to trigger societal change by choosing a litigant, a case, and a cause of action to test how the law operates.