Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence
Law firm fined for dealing with CMC and not its clients
A personal injury firm which did not deal directly with clients referred by a claims management company over six years has been fined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
APIL issues JR over shortcomings in new fixed costs rules
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has issued judicial review (JR) proceedings challenging aspects of the new rules to extend fixed recoverable costs.
Scottish court refuses costs recovery because claimant used English firm
A woman who lives in Scotland but chose to instruct an English law firm to conduct her personal injury case, using a Scottish law firm as agents, cannot recover the English firm’s fees.
Claimant who lied about minor injury not fundamentally dishonest
A claimant who lied about having a minor head injury, which did not feature in his pleaded claim or medical report, was not fundamentally dishonest, the High Court has ruled.
Personal injury market showing “little signs of recovery”
The personal injury market is showing “little signs of recovery”, with some – mainly larger – firms posting good results and having expansion strategies, new research has found.
PI almost a CMC-free zone as overall number continues to fall
The number of claims management companies has fallen by 83% from its high point of 3,213 in March 2011 to just 546 now, new figures have revealed.
Acquisitive PI firm buys two of best-known practices in the country
Two of the best-known names in the personal injury market are set to disappear after they were acquired by Manchester firm Express Solicitors.
MoJ increasing new fixed costs to reflect high rate of inflation
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
Professional enablers fuelling “opportunistic personal injury fraud”
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.
Eight out of 10 NHS claims now settle pre-issue
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.
Report fees to rise as government consults on medico-legal reforms
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.
CA: Interpreters’ fees are recoverable in fixed-cost PI cases
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.
Top entrepreneur boosts stake in leading PI law firm
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.
Fixed costs mean PI lawyers “need to embrace new mindset”
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.
Law firm had “every right” to terminate retainer, judge rules
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.
Blog
Charting a new course for publicly funded legal services
The current Legal Aid Agency model is inherently flawed and it goes beyond mere data breaches – it cannot innovatively respond to increasing challenges.
Preparing people for the pace of technological change
While technology often dominates the conversation, I believe the most important challenge facing law firms is not adopting new tools – it is preparing people to adapt alongside them.
Reorientation in the AI era must begin with the client
Much of the discussion about AI in the legal industry focuses on technology: which tools to adopt and which tasks might get automated. But this misses the deeper story.
