Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

The value of the medico-legal market fell by a further 5% last year, after shrinking by 18% during 2020, a report has found, with the lower end hit by the whiplash reforms and court delays.

Absolute privilege applies to communications within pre-action protocols and protects them from defamation claims, a deputy High Court master has ruled in the first such decision.

MedCo is to hold talks with the Ministry of Justice over whether the balance between tier 1 and 2 medical reporting organisations offered to claimants needs to be changed.

Some “moderate” personal injury claims are leaving clients worse off than they were before because solicitors are failing to consider the costs and benefits, the Legal Ombudsman has said.

The government considers the Official Injury Claim portal – about to celebrate its first birthday – to be a “cautious success”, a senior official at the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.

Bond Turner, the personal injury practice owned by listed business Anexo Group, has moved rapidly up the ranks of largest law firms with a 33% increase in turnover to £47m.

Millions of former clients of personal injury firms may have claims to recover deductions following a High Court ruling today, according to specialist claims business Checkmylegalfees.

Nine charities and patients organisations have urged health secretary Sajid Javid to rethink plans to impose fixed costs on clinical negligence claims worth up to £25,000.

The biggest specialist personal injury firm in the country, owned by private equity since last October, has made the first in a regular series of acquisitions for the next few years.

A no-fault compensation scheme for medical negligence should be introduced in England, replacing the “grossly expensive” existing system based on individual blame, MPs have said.

The outlook for those owed money by failed personal injury firm Roberts Jackson has worsened even more, with unsecured creditors – owed an estimated £13m – set to receive just 1.5p in the pound.

The cost of living crisis is driving many of the non-tariff claims made through the Official Injury Claim portal, with “wristlash and hiplash” replacing whiplash, defendant lawyers have claimed.

The potential negligence of a QC and high-profile law firm to advise a client on limitation was irrelevant as the underlying claim would not have succeeded anyway, the High Court has ruled.

Two managers of a collapsed personal injury law firm have each been fined £18,000 for failing to declare commissions earned by a connected business which provided clients with ATE insurance.

The time cases brought through the Official Injury Claim portal take to settle has increased by nearly two-thirds over the past three months, new figures have shown.