Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

Another law firm to suffer following the 2021 whiplash reforms has been sold in a pre-pack administration deal to a firm that itself has just been bought up.

NAHL – the listed business that owns National Accident Helpline – is winding down another of its joint venture alternative business structures as its own law firm goes from strength to strength.

Insurer assertions that the number of mixed injury cases has risen dramatically since the launch of the Official Injury Claim portal are not borne out by the evidence, it was argued last week.

Law firms are losing business by failing to get back to potential clients, with as many as one in five enquiries going unanswered, new research shows.

The problems with the Official Injury Claim portal identified by the justice select committee are “not just operational, but policy driven”, claimant lawyers have argued.

The Ministry of Justice needs to investigate why there is a growing number of unresolved cases in the Official Injury Claim portal, MPs said today.

Fees for counsel’s advice in lower-value clinical negligence cases will not be recoverable under the fixed recoverable cost regime unless a child or protected party is involved.

Claimant representatives have reacted angrily to the government’s decision to press ahead with fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence cases that settle pre-issue for less than £25,000.

Fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims that settle pre-issue for up to £25,000 will come into force next April, the government announced today – but it has increased the costs on offer.

A partner lied to the litigation friend and mother of a medical negligence victim, telling her repeatedly over two and a half years that a pre-action protocol letter had been sent when it had not.

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.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has issued judicial review (JR) proceedings challenging aspects of the new rules to extend fixed recoverable costs.

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.

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.

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.