Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence

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.

Two of the best-known names in the personal injury market are set to disappear after they were acquired by Manchester firm Express Solicitors.

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

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.

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.

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.