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The Court of Appeal has criticised law firms which attract clients through adverts which suggest their previous solicitors may have undersettled personal injury claims. It also said there should be “a sensible limit” on what should be expected of a solicitor operating on a fixed fee in a “high volume, low cost commoditised scheme”.

Back in November, a survey showed that more than half of claimant personal injury (PI) law firms would be forced to shut down or look for other work if the government’s proposed reforms go through. Since then, the reforms were dropped, before being put back on the agenda after the election as part of the new Civil Liability Bill. The uncertainty surrounding this contentious issue has meant that, understandably, many firms operating within the PI sector are nervous about the future. The natural reaction from many has been to reduce spending across all areas of the firm to ensure reserves are significant enough to ride out the storm when it hits. But is this simply accepting defeat?

A firm responsible for pressuring people into making holiday sickness claims had its licence cancelled by the Claims Management Regulator last week. It had encouraged holiday-goers to fabricate or embellish symptoms of gastric illness to get compensation.

The turnover of personal injury claims management companies (CMCs) has continued to tumble over the past year, falling 41% in just two years to £182m, according to the Ministry of Justice, which also highlighted how CMCs that offer damages-based agreements are struggling to comply with the law.

A partner has been struck off for dishonestly settling a personal injury claim for £5,000 without instructions, telling the client it had settled for £60,000, and then paying out the fictitious damages from unrelated client accounts.