A London solicitor could be left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after a judge ruled that the funding agreement under which he accepted a case was unenforceable.

Joe Golstein, at the time sole principal at Arbeid & Golstein, took on a clinical negligence case for client Jacqueline Bradley, who wanted to sue her GP practice, The Windsor House Group, in Leeds.

Bradley was eligible for legal aid, but did not want to go to a legal aid firm as she knew Golstein personally and wanted him to take her case. He agreed to undertake the case on a conditional fee agreement (CFA), and subsequently gave an oral assurance that he would not charge Bradley for any costs not recovered from the defendants.

When an application for an interim payment from the defendants was unsuccessful, the claimant transferred the case to Irwin Mitchell, which obtained public funding.

The case settled, but the defendants claimed they were not liable for Golstein’s costs as the CFA was not enforceable.

District Judge Bedford, sitting at the Leeds District Registry, ruled that the agreement was unenforceable because not all of its terms had been reflected in writing, which he said constituted a ‘material breach’ of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.

He also held that Bradley should not have been accepted as a CFA client as she was eligible for legal aid.

Golstein said: ‘The situation is absurd. I agreed to do a kind act, which was to the benefit of the client and harmed no one, and I have now been left out of pocket.

'The [GP practice’s] insurers have received an unmeritorious windfall because of the strained construction of the CFA legislation, which was intended to safeguard clients, not allow insurers to escape costs consequences.’

Golstein has instructed counsel to advise on a possible appeal, and the Law Society is considering whether to intervene in any appeal. The GP practice was unable to comment.