Legal News

A new group Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers has been formed to help clinical negligence lawyers to cope with the Jackson reforms and LASPO. It has already attracted 100 firms.

The Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) aims to help claimant negligence solicitor’s deal with the complexities of the new conditional fee and ATE landscape, rather than lobby on behalf of victims in the way done by APIL or AvMA.

Stephen Webber, chairman of SCIL and head of medical negligence at a firm, said all the firms involved were specialists, and were members of the Law Society or AvMA panels or had membership pending.

He said they were concerned that RTA firms would “move in on medical negligence” and clients would end up dealing with less experienced practitioners.

Webber said there were adverts in the newspapers for firms that in his knowledge were not specialists though they claim they are. They are certainly are not members of the panels.

He said the other main concerns for SCIL were uncertainty following the Jackson reforms, on proportionality, cost budgeting and recoverability, and practical problems with what remained of legal aid.

You can recover the ATE premium to the extent that it relates to expert reports on liability or causation, but not to reports on quantum or court fees. It means a split premium.

ATE providers were offering policies, but it was difficult to advise on which one was best for the client. Could it be the cheapest?

He added that it was complex as it with clients want to have a clear picture of things understandably they are passing through the biggest trauma of their lives.

Webber said legal aid had been retained for birth trauma cases, where injuries were sustained during pregnancy or the first eight weeks of life, but experts’ fees had been radically reduced.

The maximum fee for a publicly-funded pediatric neurologist had been cut from £200 an hour to £153 an hour.

These were multi-million pound compensation claims he said. Now the practitioners were left in a very difficult position. Pediatric neurologists were often the key expert.

A claimant’s lawyer coming up with a consultant with five years the other side could bring a professor he says.

Webber added that SCIL was a self-funded, not for profit organisation. It had charged an initial membership fee of £200 per firm, with further contributions for specific pieces, such as the drafting up of an up-to-date CFA agreement by a QC.