Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

Two of the best-known names in the personal injury market are set to disappear after they were acquired by Manchester firm Express Solicitors.

The Ministry of Justice is to increase the new fixed recoverable costs coming into force on 1 October to take account of the high rate of inflation, and is consulting on other changes.

It is also consulting on a range of further changes to the regime

The cost-of-living crisis is encouraging “opportunistic” personal injury fraud, with “professional enablers” designing “cynical ‘conveyor belt’ processes” to maximise fake or exaggerated injuries.

The proportion of claims settled by NHS Resolution pre-issue hit a record 80% in the last year, but the cost of claims still rose, according to its annual report.

An increase in fees for medical reports and a ban on lawyers instructing medical experts before the defendant’s liability decision are among reforms put out for consultation today.

Interpreters’ fees are recoverable as a disbursement in PI fixed costs cases, without which solicitors may not take on cases for clients who cannot speak English, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Transport entrepreneur Sir Brian Souter has boosted his stake in top personal injury firm Winn Solicitors, along with founder Jeff Winn, after the other external backer sold up.

Personal injury lawyers need to be able to switch between “adversarial and dispute resolution mindsets” to equip themselves for the future, the chair of a mediation service has argued.

A law firm had “every right” to terminate its retainer with a clinical negligence client when presented with evidence from the defendant that she had lied about the severity of her symptoms.

The Master of the Rolls has said he believes the extension of fixed recoverable costs (FRCs) to many cases worth up to £100,000 in October is “a good thing” and “I hope it works”.