Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Master of the Rolls has said he believes the extension of fixed recoverable costs (FRCs) to many cases worth up to £100,000 in October is “a good thing” and “I hope it works”.

The Supreme Court has granted the insurance industry permission to appeal the Court of Appeal ruling on mixed injury claims in the Official Injury Claim portal.

Women who claim to have been harmed by vaginal mesh implant surgery have been left “angry and distraught” after the SRA closed down a law firm acting for them.

Letters before action have been issued seeking to recover over £2m from people involved in the demise of one-time personal injury giant Hampson Hughes.

Claimants pursuing cases through the Official Injury Claim portal have received £130m in its first two years – but their lawyers remain very unhappy with the system.