Can we tell our Solicitor to settle our medical negligence claim?

sunsu123

Hello! brand new here so please be kind  we have had a medical negligence case ongoing for a few years now! it has just recently reached the stage of allocation to multi track. We are now frustrated by the lack of progress over such a long time and solicitors giving us a new 1/2 year time period to trial. We would like to start negotiations to settle via ways of part 36 offers, as i'm sure the so would the defendants. Is this something that we can push our Solicitors to do without them accusing us of not following advice? we are using a CFA and therefore hesitant to rock the boat incase they say were refusing to follow advice. any insight or experience greatly appreciated. Thank you

davidmcn

Not sure this is really "consumer rights", but anyway...haven't you discussed this with your solicitors?

sunsu123

sorry i wasnt sure where else to put it we have said that we dont want to drag things out, they have said they will put forward an offer in a few months but it feels like they are reluctant to want to settle so they can get more costs 

davidmcn

In theory yes, you can instruct them to do anything you want. If they feel you're going against their advice they may well want to make that clear in black and white. But I suspect it's pretty commonplace for a party just to want it over with quickly rather than drag things out.

unholyangel

What are the reasons you think the other party want to settle? Have they made an offer? Conceded the case but disputed the amount of damages? 

CFA typically include a clause if you settle (or change your mind) against their advice, you can be liable to pay costs. Check your letter/terms of engagement to see what it says

tacpot12

If they are working on a no-win, no-fee basis, then settling early, for a lower amount, could seriously harm their income from your case, so you need to check the terms of engagement to see if you can ask them to settle early. If you are not allowed to, then you might need to try to persuade them that it will be better from them, somehow, if they do.

Sandtree

tacpot12 said:

If they are working on a no-win, no-fee basis, then settling early, for a lower amount, could seriously harm their income from your case, so you need to check the terms of engagement to see if you can ask them to settle early. If you are not allowed to, then you might need to try to persuade them that it will be better from them, somehow, if they do.

The OP already stated it was a conditional funding agreement (aka no win, no fee). 

You can always ask whatever you want; the issue comes if your instruct them against their advice. Similarly you wont "persuade" them thats it will be better for them to settle early... solicitors dealing with multi-track cases should be sufficiently senior to understand the economics of their business model. The code of conduct for solicitors already considers the potential conflict between the client's interests and the solicitor's commercial interests and their advice must consider this conflict.

To the OP - this is a conversation for you to be having with your representatives and in particular why they feel it'll be better to hold off for a couple of months... this would suggest there is possibly further medical report or such that is planned or will be linked to the prognosis period in an earlier report.

Be_Happy

Check your contract carefully.  OH had the same experience with an industrial injuries claim.  Dragged on for 3 years for a compensation claim that we thought was too high and was eventually settled for a tiny fraction of the amount claimed, but the no-win-no-fee solicitor must have collected thousands in fees.

However, the contract contained the information that if we cancelled the claim or settled against the wishes of the solicitor, we would be charged a fee of £160 an hour for all the legal work carried out.  This would have come to £ thousands for us to pay.

Manxman_in_exile

Be_Happy said:

....  Dragged on for 3 years for a compensation claim that we thought was too high and was eventually settled for a tiny fraction of the amount claimed, but the no-win-no-fee solicitor must have collected thousands in fees.
...

If it was no win no fee and the solicitor "must have collected thousands in fees", then presumably you must have received three times more in compensation?

But you are 100% correct that the T&Cs of a NWNF contract need to be fully understood by the client.  NWNF does not necessarily mean "no cost", and this is particularly true if the client cancels or decides not to proceed after the solicitor has already incurred costs on the client's case.

steampowered

You should contact your solicitor and ask for their advice about putting forward a settlement offer. Your solicitors should be able to advise you on this, you may find that they are very happy to put forward an offer.

There is really no harm in putting forward a fairly high settlement offer.

It does also depend on who the defendant is - public sector bodies like local authorities and NHS Trusts do often fight even very strong cases all the way, and are not likely to settle.

sunsu123

thanks for the replies everyone. this is what i was worried about, early settlement against their wishes. i will tell them that we would like to settle as soon as practically possible and will follow their advice to when this should be. Its a lesson learned to anyone who wants to litigate to especially on no win no fee that once youre in youre not getting out till they decide, i assume the longer they push it the more costs they get so they will try and push it for as long as possible. However they have to be open to either putting in offers or accepting them, since if they dont show the effort to negotiate or settle and if the case goes to trial they will be heavily punished in costs by the judge.  big lesson learned, we are basically at their mercy.