Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence
Continued whiplash portal problems “a real cause for concern”
Operational and structural difficulties facing the Official Injury Claim portal are a “cause for real concern” and having a serious impact on access to justice, it has been claimed.
CMCs have not exploited whiplash portal, report says
Fears that unscrupulous claims management companies would take advantage of injured people bringing claims through whiplash portal have proven unfounded, a report has found.
Court of Appeal to start again in test case on deductions from PI damages
The much-anticipated hearing in Belsner was scrapped yesterday after the Court of Appeal raised the possibility that pre-action legal work was contentious business for costs purposes.
Clin neg costs reforms “could lead to exodus” of small law firms
Small law firms could end up “falling or stepping away” from the clinical negligence market if fixed recoverable costs (FRC) for cases worth less than £25,000 are set too low.
Personal injury CMC boss convicted for second time
The former boss of a personal injury claims management company previously jailed for contempt of court has now been convicted of failing to preserve company accounting records.
MoJ bids to help consumers better understand whiplash portal
The Ministry of Justice has published a simplified guide to using the Official Injury Claim portal in the wake of a low take-up by litigants in person. But there are still big obstacles.
“Injured people will suffer twice” – furious reaction to clin neg fixed costs
Those harmed by the NHS will “have to pay again by losing access to justice” as a result of government plans to introduce fixed costs, campaigners have claimed.
Government sides with defendants in clinical negligence fixed costs plan
The government has finally published its proposals for fixed costs in low-value clinical negligence cases. Going with fees proposed by defendant representatives, it expects to save £454m over 10 years.
Collapse in number of motor claims continues but clin neg cases jump
The number of motor injury claims reported to the Compensation Recovery Unit fell by nearly 20% last year, new figures have shown. However, the volume of clinical negligence claims increased.
Insurance firm develops AI app to boost clients’ reserving
A leading insurance law firm has mined its historic claims data to create an app for clients to improve estimates of how much cash to set aside at an early stage in volume personal injury claims.
Blog
The SRA needs to admit it got it wrong about SLAPPs
The High Court judgment in Ashley Hurst v SRA in January raises serious questions about the regulator’s approach to allegations of SLAPP-like behaviour.
Why menopause support belongs on every law firm’s agenda
Progression in the law slows significantly as women approach senior leadership. Most will be at the height of their careers around the average age menopause symptoms begin.
Law firms need to go beyond document checks
At the root of every failed compliance review is a familiar phrase: a calm assertion of “but we did a document check”.
