Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence
Slater & Gordon to offer ADR for all contested low-value PI claims
Slater & Gordon is to put all contested minor personal injury claims through alternative dispute resolution in a bid to reduce the length and cost of cases.
Good customer service now “just as important” as the legal work
Consumer law firms increasingly consider that customer service is just as important as resolving a legal matter satisfactorily, partly with an eye to online reviews.
CA: Judges do not have to accept unchallenged expert evidence
Judges are not required to accept ‘uncontroverted’ – ie, unchallenged – evidence from an expert witness without further analysis, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
SRA fines Irwin Mitchell for way it switched clients to CFAs
Irwin Mitchell has been fined £9,000 for failing to give proper advice to clients in 2013 before switching the funding of their cases from legal aid to a conditional fee agreement.
Supreme Court backs claimants in QOCS set-off ruling
The Supreme Court has held that defendants cannot set off opposing costs orders in cases covered by qualified one-way costs shifting, in what has been hailed as a significant win for claimants.
More PI consolidation as Minster Law buys Irwin Mitchell’s fast-track work
The consolidation of the low-value personal injury market stepped up today after Minster Law acquired Irwin Mitchell’s fast-track book and future cases too.
Judges can rely on solicitors’ emails to assess credit hire losses
Taxi drivers forced to hire new cars after road traffic accidents do not need to set out their credit charges in witness statements as emails from their solicitors will suffice, a judge has ruled.
Slower-than-expected rebound in PI claims hits listed business
A slower-than-expected return to pre-pandemic personal injury claim levels and the decision to put more cases through its own law firm will hit NAHL plc’s turnover and profit this year.
Claimant who exaggerated impact of injury not fundamentally dishonest
A judge was right to find that a claimant who exaggerated the impact of a serious injury was not fundamentally dishonest, the High Court has ruled.
Turnover and profits soar at listed business’s law firm
The listed business that owns leading personal injury law firm Bond Turner saw its legal revenues soar 38% and profits 209% in the first half of this year as it gears up for further expansion.
Law Society and APIL lead opposition to fixed costs extension
Government plans to widen the use of fixed recoverable costs in civil cases would blow a hole in access to justice, the Law Society has said in urging the government to rethink.
“Angry” public wants total ban on PI cold calling, survey finds
The vast majority of members of the public (93%) want a total ban on cold calling and unsolicited texts for personal injury claims, with the restrictions imposed three years ago proving ineffective.
Legal expenses insurance coming to aid of solicitors in whiplash claims
Many solicitors are managing the claims going through the Official Injury Claim portal with the support of enhanced legal expense insurance policies, an accident management firm has reported.
OIC advisory group set up amid concerns over insurer behaviour
The Ministry of Justice has set up an Official Injury Claim advisory group amid suggestions that insurers are encouraging already represented claimants to bring their claim without legal help.
Head of failed PI firm struck off for “double funding” cases
The director of a law firm who admitted taking money from two different litigation funders for the same cases in an attempt to keep it operating “at all costs” has been struck off.
Blog
The rise of cyber-criminal threat for law firms since Covid-19
The global coronavirus pandemic, and the rise in people working from home, has unfortunately provoked a growth in cyber-crime. The UK government estimates that the cost of cyber-crime is £27bn per annum.
How to ensure your ATE cover is adequate security for costs
When does an after-the-event insurance policy provide adequate security for a defendant’s costs? The short answer is that it very much depends on the wording of the particular policy.
Hybrid working – A rise or fall in future claims?
Official figures showed that, between 2012 and 2017, employees who mainly worked from home were less than half as likely to be promoted than all other workers.
Reports
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