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Aligned Incentives & Cost Safety

When delay harms us, not you - costs stay safe.

Published: 7 July 2024 | Reviewed: 3 December 2025
(3-minute read)

The Incentive Problem in the Traditional Model

Most Australians don’t realise this:

in the traditional model, delay is profitable.

Every extra step, every extension, every procedural detour
creates more billable work.

Not because anyone acts improperly,
but because the financial incentives pull in the wrong direction.

Clean Law reverses that pressure.

We earn nothing from delay.
We cannot profit from recommending litigation.
And our result-bonus is tied only to the trial costs you avoid.

If YOU save, WE win.
If your case DRAGS, we lose.

This is how cost safety made structural - integrity follows.

Clean Law’s Model Fixes the Incentive Problem at Its Source

Clean Law was built so clients receive protections the
traditional blended model can never match,
because our incentives pull in the same direction as yours:

These three incentive alignments sit at the heart of your protection.
They make cost safety structural, not optional.

The Three Structural Cost Alignments

(also discussed in Smart Discovery Package, Why Two Lawyers Cost Less, Escrow, and Switching Lawyers Flexibility)

Alignment #1: Delay Harms Us, Not You

Clean Law charges a fixed fee to manage your escrow account.
The longer your matter drags, the more we lose.

Escrow is your safety gate.

Our fixed fee covers:

  • protection of your file release

  • control of timing gates

  • approval of scope boundaries

  • visibility over every dollar

  • independent advice on timing and strategy

  • prevention of premature trial preparation

And most critically:

  • we do not earn more when a matter drags,

  • we do not earn more from scope expansion, and

  • we do not benefit from escalation.

A fixed fee makes delay structurally unprofitable for us.

Alignment #2: We Can’t Profit From Litigation

Clean Law is a fully capable law firm.
We could run your entire case in court but we are deliberately structured not to:

  • we do not act in contested hearings

  • we do not draft pleadings for filing

  • we do not brief or instruct counsel

This structural restraint removes any financial incentive to recommend litigation for profit.

If a matter escalates to trial, the trial lawyer earns the trial fees - not us.
Our role remains in the settlement / cost-safety lane so your interests stay aligned with ours.

Alignment #3: We Only Earn When You Avoid Trial Costs

Clean Law earns a result bonus only when early settlement avoids trial costs -
and the bonus is tied solely to the trial cost you do not have to pay.

  • no savings → no bonus

  • partial savings → proportional bonus

  • full avoided trial cost → bonus calibrated to those avoided costs

We never take a percentage of damages.
We never take contingency fees.

If YOU save, WE win.
If your case DRAGS, we lose.

This structure creates a direct alignment between your interests and ours.
We succeed only when you avoid unnecessary trial costs.

Why These Three Mechanisms Matter

Together, they ensure:

This is how cost safety becomes structural, not optional.

Bottom Line

Two lawyers often cost less than one,
because you fund one path, not both.

If YOU save, WE win;
if your case DRAGS, we lose.

Built to stop cost spiral before it gets a chance.

By Nicky Wang
Principal Solicitor
Legal Liaison Ltd (trading as Clean Law)
Prepared in accordance with public-interest governance,
annual Law Society trust-account audits, and ACNC-reported standards.

Disclaimer: This page is intended to provide general information only and is not legal advice. The contents may not reflect the most current legal developments and do not take into account your individual circumstances. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without obtaining legal advice tailored to your situation.