We provide professional legal advice if your solicitor has been negligent
When things go wrong, you place a lot of trust in your solicitor, so it can be frustrating, costly and difficult if they don't do what you expected. If you have tried to claim for medical negligence and feel that your solicitor was negligent in the way that they handled your case, we can help. Contact us to discuss your case.
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What is Professional Negligence?
If you have used the services of a solicitor and have not received adequate compensation, you may have a claim for professional negligence. If the shortcomings in the service and advice they provided have led to you receiving inadequate compensation - or none at all - this could amount to Professional Negligence.
The negligence of a solicitor in the conduct of a personal injury claim or a medical negligence claim can fall into the following broad categories:
- Failing to do something in time - All claims have a time restriction. Court proceedings are started by issuing a Claim Form. Once issued, the Claim Form should be served on the Defendant within 4 months. There are then certain steps that must be met on time by the solicitor. If your lawyer does not meet time limits, they could then be liable.
- Not claiming for, or not obtaining, enough compensation - Damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity are referred to as general damages. General damages are awarded for the pain and suffering caused by an injury, both in the past and in the future. The level of damages will depend upon the duration and intensity of the pain and suffering.
An under-settlement is when your solicitor does not claim enough compensation for your case. It can happen when they overlook one of the many factors you need to consider due to your change in circumstances, such as:
- Loss of earnings
- Loss of pension
- Disadvantage on the labour market
- Loss of congenial employment
- Housing costs
- Care and assistance
- Help required undertaking tasks that you undertook before the injury (decorating, DIY, gardening etc)
- Mobility and transport
- Medical treatment, medical care and expenses
- Not advising on how to preserve the right to benefits and keep all of the compensation, as well as failing to advise on setting up a Personal Injury Trust (so that you lost the right to continue to receive means-tested benefits).
If the compensation claimed was not sufficient, we may be able to help you.
How does under-settlement occur?
Medical negligence is a highly-specialised area of the law and is experiencing a continued growth in claims. Unfortunately, this means that not all claims are being handled by experienced, knowledgeable specialists. Some inexperienced solicitors - despite the best of intentions - simply aren't aware of the many ways that medical negligence can impact on a claimant's life. As demonstrated by the examples above, there are many things that a claimant can legitimately include in their claim, and some of these may be missed by a solicitor, leaving the claimant with inadequate funds.
Compensation claims can involve large sums of money and inexperienced solicitors can overlook important considerations like the effects of a compensation payout on your tax affairs or your entitlement to state benefits. For example, you could set up a Personal Injury Trust to manage your money over the coming years - a competent solicitor should offer you advice on this.
What is a Personal Injury Trust?
You have a legal right to set up a Personal Injury Trust to protect your entitlement to means-tested state benefits. This applies not only to benefits you currently receive, but also any future benefits to which you may be entitled. The trust allows you to save or spend your compensation whilst still being paid your benefits. A compensation payout is typically intended to get you through the rest of your life and cover your increased costs, rather than being a short-term windfall. Without a Personal Injury Trust, your income could
How do I make a Professional Negligence claim?
Medical negligence claims are themselves extremely complex, so it stands to reason that examining the effectiveness of that claim and the way it was conducted can add yet more complication. That is why we recommend that you get advice from an experienced specialist in this area of the law as promptly as possible. We have many years' experience of conducting medical negligence effectively for our clients and also of helping clients whose solicitors have let them down in the management of their claim.
Call us on 0800 138 0458 or contact us through the website to talk to a medical negligence solicitor about your circumstances.
Our Medical Negligence Specialists
How are Professional Negligence Cases Funded?
There are various options of funding for claims. Many of our cases are funded using Conditional Fee Agreements, also called a ‘No Win No Fee’ medical negligence claim. In a Conditional Fee Agreement, you will only pay for our solicitors’ work if we win the case for you. In limited cases we can offer legal aid. Our solicitors can review and discuss with you what options of funding are available to you and the best route to take.
How Can Switalskis Help Me?
If you have had an experience involving any of these categories, or if you believe that a professional has not properly fulfilled their duties, or that you have been mistreated in some other way, then you should contact us today so that we help you as soon as possible.
Our experienced Switalskis team includes solicitors who are recognised as specialists by both The Law Society and the patients’ charity, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA). We are also recognised as being amongst the top Clinical Negligence teams in England by the Legal 500 UK, the foremost legal guide for clients.
Contact us now on 0800 1380 458 to talk to a medical negligence solicitor and have your claim assessed free of charge.
