Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

Personal injury law firms that fail to spell out in their retainers the costs clients could be liable for beyond what is recovered from defendants face a wave of litigation following a major High Court ruling.

The Legal Ombudsman has warned law firms against making holiday sickness claims without “verifying the version of events” obtained by claims management companies as complaints rise.

The latest consolidation move in the personal injury market came today with Slater & Gordon announcing the acquisition of Jigsaw Law from medico-legal and insurance services giant Examworks.

Some of the larger personal injury firms are set to merge while others will have to restructure, with the market set to reach a “watershed moment”, a report has predicted.

Frenkel Topping, best known for giving financial advice to seriously injured claimants with large awards, has approached the company that owns National Accident Helpline over a potential acquisition.

The jobs of more than 100 staff at Yorkshire firm Heptonstalls have been saved by a start-up personal injury practice that aims to expand as others leave the market due to next year’s whiplash reforms.

Revenue and profit have fallen sharply at NAHL plc – the owner of National Accident Helpline and ABS National Accident Law – after “the most challenging six months” in its history.

A personal injury solicitor has been sanctioned for allowing the claims management company that supplied almost all of his work to dictate the terms of clients’ engagement with his firm.

Lyons Davidson has had a good-looking year spoiled by the collapse of its joint venture with NAHL plc, meaning that it has posted a £2.8m loss for the last financial year.

An experienced personal injury solicitor who forged his client’s signature on two court documents to progress her case “acted stupidly” and had to be struck off, a tribunal has decided.

Personal injury inquiries are still little over half of expected volumes, according to listed legal business NAHL, which has seen revenues drop by 21% in the first six months of the year.

NAHL plc has seen a modest recovery since lockdown restrictions eased but personal injury and conveyancing work is still at 50% of pre-Covid levels.

Yorkshire law firm Heptonstalls has joined forces with Call Brian, an automated personal injury claims system, to offer other firms a way to continue making money after the whiplash reforms come into effect.

The Ministry of Justice continues to stall on when it will progress the next wave of personal injury reform, while defending the controversial decision to drop ADR from the new whiplash portal.

The outlook for creditors of failed personal injury firm Roberts Jackson is bleak, with nearly £40m that it owes, more than half to its private equity backer, unlikely to be repaid.