Making a personal injury claim

With the right legal advice and active management of your claim, we aim to minimise the impact on you while achieving the best outcome and keeping you involved throughout.

Initial meeting

We usually hold an initial meeting without charge, either in person or by telephone, to discuss the circumstances of your potential claim and provide advice on the prospects of succeeding, the practical steps to be taken, and the funding of your claim.

Supervision

A partner will supervise the case throughout and remain closely involved to monitor progress and keep the case on track. The partner would identify the members of our team who have the necessary experience and capacity to conduct your claim. They will then want to understand your case and injuries fully. We aim to establish a good relationship with regular communication.

Investigation

The next stage is to obtain full evidence from you and from other sources of the circumstances giving rise to your injuries and the nature of those injuries. This can take a number of months depending on the complexity of the case, but we would update you regularly.

Expert evidence

Most cases need a medical expert to report on the injuries sustained. Depending on the cause of those injuries, other experts may also be relevant, for example, in accident reconstruction, or health and safety.

We have a large network of experts in many fields with whom we have established solid working relationships. This includes barristers with specific expertise in these cases.

Damages – assessing what you need

Many of our clients have significant needs as a result of their injuries. Part of our role is to explore these needs and obtain expert evidence as to how they can be met, both now and in the future, and the cost of doing so. It is vital that when we get to the stage of negotiating a settlement we know what your needs will be and can ensure that there is financial provision to meet them. We use our experience to assess the issues that need to be explored.

They can cover care, therapy, adapted accommodation, specialist equipment, case management, vocational rehabilitation, IT needs and education. Again, we have a network of well regarded experts and these experts work with us and our medical experts.

As part of your claim, you will recover compensation for your injuries, pain, suffering and quality of life. You will also recover compensation for past, ongoing and future financial loss. The sorts of potential losses that we will investigate and advise you upon include:

• loss of earnings and/or career opportunities – past and future
• compensation for care provided by family
• assessment of ongoing and future care needs and the cost of professional care
• transport and travel costs
• specialist aids and equipment to assist with day to day life
• therapy needs
• case management
• accommodation needs – alterations, relocation etc
• medical costs – past and future

We will, wherever possible, seek to obtain interim payments or rehabilitation assistance from the relevant defendant at an early stage.

Legal process

Once our investigations are complete, we are required to comply where possible with the Personal Injury Pre-Action Protocol under which we would set out the basis of your claim and the injuries you have suffered to the defendant. The defendant then has three months to investigate and respond to the allegations.

The parties are therefore able to outline their respective cases and determine the extent to which they are in dispute before formal court proceedings begin. If possible, both parties will try to agree to settle a case, rather than issue formal proceedings. However, if this is not possible, we will issue proceedings and proceed through a court timetable.

Valuing your claim

We would aim to give an initial rough indication of the value – or ‘quantum’ – of your claim when first advising you. However, inevitably these need to be reconsidered as evidence is obtained from you and elsewhere of the extent of your injuries, any relevant prior medical history and the losses you have incurred or will incur in the future because of the accident.

Settlement and after

We consider at each stage of a claim whether it is capable of valuation and settlement. Where we can instigate negotiations, we will do so.

Once a case is settled we can deal with court approvals required due to age or lack of capacity. We can advise on trusts and on the Court of Protection.