Instructing Us

At the outset we will:

• Provide you with a detailed action plan of the steps to be taken to pursue your claim.
• Explain the issues that will be involved.
• Give you an initial opinion on the merits of your claim, potential values and timescales.

Legal Costs

Many personal injury claims are funded under a Conditional Fee Agreement (no win no fee agreement). Alternatively you may have legal expense insurance which will fund your claim. We will discuss this with you and consider and advise you about the most appropriate way to fund your claim.

Pursuing a successful claim

In any type of personal injury claim it is necessary to prove three elements. These are known as liability, causation and quantum.

1. Liability. You must establish that somebody else or organisation is responsible for your accident. You need to prove that they were negligent or that they failed to comply with a statutory duty or obligation and as a result you had an accident.
2. Causation. It is not enough to just prove that the other person (or organisation) was negligent, you need to show that their negligence caused the accident. Often this can be straightforward, but sometimes the arguments can be quite complex if there are two or more potential defendants or there is an argument as to what actually caused the accident (ie defective machinery or human error?). Causation arguments can arise where there is a dispute as to the injury or extent of injury caused by somebody else’s negligence.
3. Quantum. This is the assessment of the value of the claim. Different injuries have different values, depending upon the severity of the pain and suffering. A broken leg for example will attract a higher value than a broken little finger. The valuation of the injury element of the claim will depend upon the diagnosis of injury, the extent of recovery and prognosis for the future. Compensation can be claimed for loss of earnings and other monetary losses such as damage to property and any repairs. If losses will continue to be incurred in the future because you have not returned to work at the time of settlement or assessment or there are future expenses to pay then these future losses can also be claimed as part of the claim.

Medical Experts and Barristers

During the course of the claim it will be necessary to obtain expert medical evidence. A report will be obtained from an independent medico-legal expert who will be a specialist doctor or consultant surgeon. The expert will prepare a medical report confirming the diagnosis, recovery and prognosis and the impact that the injury has had on your day to day living and your employment. Sometimes additional experts will need to be instructed depending upon the severity of the injury and the extent of the losses. We have good working relationships and credit terms with medical reporting organisations which enables us to instruct the most appropriate experts for your claim.

It may be necessary to instruct a Barrister, particularly in higher value or complex cases or where the claim goes to court. Barristers are specialist advocates. They are independent legal experts who work through a set of Chambers. We have good working relationships with the top personal injury Barristers Chambers in London and throughout the UK if a Barrister is to be instructed.