No Win No Fee Professional Negligence Solicitors

Has a solicitor missed the limitation date for your claim?

Limitation is the date by which you must bring your claim against the opponent in the matter and either settle the claim in full or issue court proceedings. Limitation dates vary depending on the type of case, for example, in most personal injury claims the limitation period would be 3 years from the date of the accident which caused the personal injuries.

If your solicitor has missed the limitation date, and failed to agree an extension with the opponent or obtain permission from the court to extend the limitation period then your claim would be time barred under the Limitation Act 1980 and you would be unable to claim against the opponent any further.

In such circumstances, we would pursue a claim against your solicitors on your behalf for loss of chance for you to pursue the underlying claim against the opponent as a result of your solicitor’s negligence in missing the limitation date.

Has a solicitor missed a court deadline or just made a mess of your court proceedings?

Missing a court deadline or failing to comply with a court order can result in your claim being dismissed/struck out or some other sanction which may be detrimental to your case.

In the event of a strike out of your claim, your court case would be terminated at that point and you would be unable to continue. Strike out of a case can also sometimes lead to the court making a costs order against you for payment of the opponents legal costs.

There can also be instances where your solicitors fail to comply with a court order requiring them to take certain steps in your case. The usual scenario, in the event that your claim is not struck out for the failure is that some other sanction may be placed on your case by the court. For example, in cases where the court orders that you disclose medical evidence by a certain date and you fail to do so, may in fact result in the court barring you from relying on any further medical evidence or any medical evidence at all. This could be detrimental if not fatal to your case and could affect the overall settlement you would have been likely to achieve if your solicitors had complied with the court order. This scenario can arise in relation to any number or type of evidence or documents, even witness statements.

It is your solicitor’s obligation to represent you and act in your best interests, failing to deal with court orders in time or at all is a breach of their professional obligations to you and in the event that such behaviour causes a loss or detriment to you then we would pursue your solicitors for the loss which you suffer as a result.

In other instances, solicitors can make errors in court proceedings where they either miss a court hearing, start the court proceedings against the wrong party or miss vital evidence. Get in touch with us if you feel you have been the victim of this type of negligent behaviour by your solicitors.

Have you been left with a legal bill for the opponents in a case?

Negligence by your solicitors in a court case may have resulted in a costs order being raised against you and you now have to deal with the stress and worry of the opponent and their bailiffs chasing you for thousands of pounds. In most instances, you would have thought you were signing up to a “no win, no fee” agreement but did your solicitors explain to you that such agreement only relates to your own solicitor’s costs, did they take out an insurance policy (ATE cover) to protect you in such circumstances?

We will investigate the cause of the cost order against you and advise you on whether or not you have a claim for negligence against your solicitors to pay the sums you are now being faced with paying as well as recover your own claim losses if caused by your solicitors negligence.

Were you a Client of Pure Legal/SSB Law Solicitors?

Our professional negligence advisers at MRH Solicitors are actively working on a number of professional negligence cases of failed cavity wall insulation claims which were handled by Pure Legal or SSB Law who have recently gone into administration

If you have been approached by solicitors for the third party in your claim demanding payment of their costs from you when you thought your claim was being run on a “no win no fee” basis, please get in touch with us as you may have a valid professional negligence claim against Pure Legal or SSB Law.

If you find yourself in a similar situation involving any other solicitor and don’t know what to do next, call us and we will do what we can to help you.

Has a solicitor failed to claim all of your losses?

In our experience of dealing with professional negligence claims, a large number of claims can arise as a result of a failure by solicitors to claim all the losses a person has suffered in relation to their claims. Sometimes, solicitors can be so fixed on one area of the claim that they neglect others and this failure can be extremely costly to the client. These losses can sometimes exceed even the value of the compensation you receive for your injury claim.

Some examples of losses which solicitors may have failed to include as part of your claim:

Loss of earnings; loss of earnings you incur following an accident which results in you not being able to work for a period of time

Smith v Manchester award; in the event that you are impaired on the local labour market following an accident injury resulting in a disadvantage in obtaining a new job or if you are required to abandon the type of work you were doing before as a result of the injuries and need to retrain then your solicitors are required to consider and pursue a claim for this loss.

Cost of care and assistance; this is any care/assistance provided to you by family or friends after you have suffered an injury, over and above that which would normally have been provided.  If someone else has had to give up their time, maybe even take leave from work to help get you through a difficult period after you have suffered an injury, that time is chargeable as part of your claim and can be claimed from your opponent.  A typical cost of care and assistance claim can be awarded at £5.60 per hour and as you can appreciate, the hours someone can spend looking after you can add up pretty quickly and over a period of time depending on the severity of the injury.  Claims for cost of care and assistance can be quite substantial and this is a valid head of claim most claimants are entitled to pursue (subject of course to medical evidence supporting this).

Vehicle loss; if you were involved in a vehicle related accident and your own vehicle was damaged beyond repair or required repairs this can be claimed from your opponent.

Credit hire; if you incurred charges for hiring an alternative vehicle if your own was unroadworthy following an accident.

Recovery & storage charges; following road traffic accidents where your vehicle is recovered from the scene of the accident, either arranged by you, your insurers or the police, the charges that can be levied against you for this service are recoverable from your opponent.

Damage to personal and other items; laptops, mobile phones.

Surgery, treatment or rehabilitation costs; cost of private surgery, medical attention or care, including physiotherapy.

If your claim has been settled already on a full and final settlement basis and your solicitor missed any of the losses above or any other losses, get in touch with us and we can consider claiming against your solicitors to recover the missing losses.

Has a solicitor missed important and/or vital evidence in your case?

A failure by your solicitor to properly conduct investigations in your case and ensure all relevant evidence is considered and disclosed can affect the prospects of success in your case. If you feel that you solicitor has been negligent in this regard and has caused the failure of your case as a result then get in touch with us and tell us what has happened.

Has a solicitor failed to advise you properly at important stages of your claim?

Solicitors are required to give clear and concise advice to their clients in relation to important factors or events in the claim. If your solicitor has failed to advise you properly and this has resulted in you losing your case or getting less than you should have been entitled to, then you may well have a case for professional negligence against them.

Has a solicitor under-settled your claim?

We have dealt with claims in the past where solicitors have failed to appreciate the full extent of an injury suffered by their client. As a result, the medical evidence obtained in the case has not been adequate and the full compensation you would have been entitled to will not have been recovered, therefore leaving you at a loss. In other scenarios, solicitors can sometimes be tempted to suggest settlement on a “pre-medical” basis where the opponent seeks to make a quick settlement offer before any medical evidence detailing injuries suffered has even been obtained. Opponents insurers will regularly deploy such tactics if they feel they can make themselves a saving on what they will be required to pay to settle the claim.

If you feel that you have been a victim of such practice and the full potential of your claim has not been investigated and therefore under-settled at a loss to you then please get in touch with us. We have experience of dealing with claims where solicitors have under-settled by thousands of pounds because they took the quick and easy option.

We would be particularly interested in cases which have been settled yet you are experiencing ongoing serious symptoms of injury which are likely to be long term. In some cases we have seen the long lasting affect of an injury on a person can be so substantial that their entire life changes drastically going forwards and the compensation their solicitors have recovered for them is simply not adequate.

Has a solicitor taken unreasonable and unexplained deductions from your damages?

In most instances, under the terms of a “no win, no fee” agreement, your solicitors are entitled to take a success fee from your damages if you entered into an agreement in this regard with them. What most solicitors don’t explain to you however, is that the success fee has to be calculated on 100% of their base charges and then capped at the agreed amount (usually 25%).

We have dealt with claims in the past where the solicitors have miscalculated the amount that they were entitled to deduct and have therefore ended up taking more than they would be entitled to. In addition, we have found that some solicitors will attempt to charge clients for other costs and fees which are not properly agreed or explained.

If you find yourself in this type of situation, give us a call and let’s see if we can assist in getting your money back.