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

Manxman_in_exile

What is the issue?  Is it simply the length of time this is taking or is there something else that is concerning you?

You describe the case as being for industrial injury, and that it has dragged on for several years.  I'm assuming that this has involved some sort of physical injury to you or your spouse.  The unfortunate truth is that it is not unusual for personal injury claims to drag on for a very long time.  Sometimes it's because the injuries are complex and /or serious, or because it takes a long time for medical experts to assess the full extent of the injury and to give an informed opinion as to what the prognosis is.  Sometimes apparently simple cases just take a long time.

But if this case has dragged on for several years, with your NWNF lawyers not getting any money out of it during all that time, I can only conclude that they think you have very high chance of success and of winning a fairly substantial sum in damages.  Otherwise why would they tie up so much working capital in this case - they must think it's worthwhile?

I'm sure there's nothing in your agreement preventing you from raising with them the issue of trying to reach a settlement with the defendant.  What you need is an honest and open discussion with them about where the boundaries are in respect of what is and is not a reasonable settlement figure - and what the implications are for you.  They are your lawyers after all so you ought to be able to have a frank discussion with them.  If you don't trust them you chose the wrong firm in the first place!

Is the amount of time causing you particular problems?  I assume all the day to day conduct of your case is managed by the NWNF firm, so is there much that you have to do yourselves?

sunsu123

Manxman_in_exile said:

What is the issue?  Is it simply the length of time this is taking or is there something else that is concerning you?

You describe the case as being for industrial injury, and that it has dragged on for several years.  I'm assuming that this has involved some sort of physical injury to you or your spouse.  The unfortunate truth is that it is not unusual for personal injury claims to drag on for a very long time.  Sometimes it's because the injuries are complex and /or serious, or because it takes a long time for medical experts to assess the full extent of the injury and to give an informed opinion as to what the prognosis is.  Sometimes apparently simple cases just take a long time.

But if this case has dragged on for several years, with your NWNF lawyers not getting any money out of it during all that time, I can only conclude that they think you have very high chance of success and of winning a fairly substantial sum in damages.  Otherwise why would they tie up so much working capital in this case - they must think it's worthwhile?

I'm sure there's nothing in your agreement preventing you from raising with them the issue of trying to reach a settlement with the defendant.  What you need is an honest and open discussion with them about where the boundaries are in respect of what is and is not a reasonable settlement figure - and what the implications are for you.  They are your lawyers after all so you ought to be able to have a frank discussion with them.  If you don't trust them you chose the wrong firm in the first place!

Is the amount of time causing you particular problems?  I assume all the day to day conduct of your case is managed by the NWNF firm, so is there much that you have to do yourselves?

its definitely length of time, but youre absolutely correct, at the end of the day the lawyers want what is best for you and them if you have instructed them and both are usually interlinked. i dont think that they would want to prolong it longer than necessary either, i need to ask them about settlement, i'm sure they will be ok with putting forward offers, its more when clients dont want to settle that there are issues for them. thank you for providing some much needed clarity for me

Manxman_in_exile

I think the best approach is an open discussion.  Outline your concerns to them and ask for their view on attempting a settlement.  Point out (if you want to) that it's been taking a long time and that they can't have made anything out of it yet either.  From what you've written you understand a lot of the issues so speak to them.

If you do end up differing with them over what is an acceptable offer, then is perhaps the time to come back here and ask.  But at the end of the day, you'll need to decide yourself.

Good luck.

fred246

We had exactly the same sort of problem with solicitors. An elderly relative had an accident. There was no way it could be contested but we just thought engaging a solicitor was worthwhile because they are used to the paperwork and would know how much to claim. At the first meeting we emphasized 1)Quick Resolution 2)No court case. Just quick negotiation and finish. End of stress for claimant. What a nightmare. At first you think they are experts and following protocol and it slowly dawns that they are just trying to rack up an enormous legal expense bill. That's their only objective. What the customer wants is totally irrelevant. I hoped that if I invoked their complaints procedure that would quicken things up, but they just ignored my complaint letter. I should have reported them but I hoped to keep them 'on our side'. The claimant was elderly and dying, and we thought they would die before receiving compensation. Didn't bother the solicitors, though. Just more and more expenses on the account. They got the cheque a few weeks before death.
This was a few years ago. I looked online for reviews but no-one would publish them at that time because the solicitors would take legal action immediately. Then google started publishing them. Every few weeks someone would give them a one star review. Their record appeared appalling. Then suddenly five star reviews appeared sometimes 2 or 3 a day. Just looked on Trustpilot. About 50 5 star reviews. They have either improved or something else is happening.

steampowered

If you are not sure of your position, the first thing you should do is carefully read the "engagement letter" you would have been sent when you instructed the solicitor. That should explain any restrictions.

The next thing you should do is to contact your solicitor, and say that you would like to instruct them to make a Part 36 settlement offer. Then see what advice you get.

I would imagine that your solicitor will be perfectly happy to settle for an amount which is enough to cover their fees. As I said, normally NWNF solicitors are keen for you to accept a reasonable settlement offer, NWNF solicitors do not normally like to risk a trial if it can be avoided.

I think you might have misunderstood the 25%. This normally refers to a success uplift on the solicitor's fees - for example, if the solicitor would normally have charged £1,000 on their standard hourly rates, they get to charge £1,250. This is not the same thing as 25% of the damages you end up receiving from the Defendant. But, you should read your engagement letter to check.

unholyangel

sunsu123 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

sunsu123 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

To be honest it's no more in your solicitors' interests to prolong this more than necessary than it is yours.

You can complain about NFNW lawyers, but if they weren't there, what would you do?  I'm a retired NHS manager and my wife a practising solicitor (in the public, not private, sector).  We are reasonably well off financially, but if we had a possible personal injury claim to make, I'm pretty certain we'd find it difficult to afford a solicitor and would probably go NWNF.  If you couldn't access a NWNF lawyer, could you afford to engage a lawyer on a PAYG basis and pay their fees - whether you win or lose?

Be careful what you wish for.  Without NWNF about 95% of people with winnable PI claims wouldn't be able to get to court in the first place to win anything at all.  And of course, a NWNF lawyer will tell you straight away if you've no hope in hell of winning your case - instead of continuing to take your money 'til you lose, and then bill you for more.

Its definitely a double edged sword, the problem is that their are so many restrictions in the CFA that you really have to consider whether its worth it or not.

Really? 

Lets say you've suffered personal injury as the result of someone's possible negligence.  You've got no legal cover on your insurance but your injuries might be worth £5000 - £25000 (or whatever).  You can't afford to pay for a lawyer.  What do you do?

Well, you either (a) do nothing and forget about it because you can't afford to pay a lawyer, and be 100% of winning absolutely nothing at all, or (b) you enter into a NWNF arrangement and give yourself a better than zero chance of winning 65% - 75% of £5000 - £25000 (or whatever).

.Nothing in this life is certain but I know I'd go with the NWNF.  It's a no-brainer.  How can it not be worth it?

steampowered said:

It is simply not true that the solicitor has an interest in dragging this out.

Right now, the solicitor is working for free. If the case successfully settles, they will get paid straight away. Plus they will not have to risk the uncertainty of a trial.

You say that this case has been going on for 4 years. That means the solicitor has been working on the case for 4 years without getting paid. Hardly extortion is it.

I agree with all that.  I have absolutely no idea why people get worked up about NWNF lawyers.  If we (and by "we" I mean society) didn't have them people would be crying out about the injustice of not being able to access affordable legal representation.  It seems everybody wants everybody else to work for free - except themselves.

OP - ask your solicitors what the pros and cons are for you to try to reach a settlement.  Simples.  (Of course you may not get as good a deal as you could...)

because you settle when they decide. so if you want settle early, you cant till they say so, if you want to settle late and they want you to settle for less, you have to or pay their costs. if you die the you estate is liable for their costs. There are definite risks involved, like i said its double edged its not 100% in the claimants favour like they make it out to be, and as someone mentioned before, no costs doesnt necessarily mean no costs. 

As there should be. This is why NWNF was scrapped and CFA took it's place, because it was deemed that NWNF did not pose enough of a risk to the claimant and created an imbalance because the claimant had "nothing to lose" and would incur no cost/risk in bringing the action while the defendent would, even though they weren't the ones to start legal action. 

Sandtree

sunsu123 said:
i assume the longer they push it the more costs they get so they will try and push it for as long as possible.

There costs are driven by what track of the legal system it is going through and if its via the portal or not. 

Most claims are mid value fast track cases via the portal and so the lawyers generally get fixed fees irrespective of how long they drag it out.

liggerz87

Sorry this not much help a few years ago mate got injured and got in touch with a nwnf solicitor took 3 years to sort he had 3 medical assessment maybe more and beginning of 2020 he had a letter and call from them saying everything had been sorted he got 1500 comp and he expected a lot less then that the solicitor fee that they took was 8k I'm not sure if it went to court or not or if that was an out of court arrangement 

Manxman_in_exile

Are you saying that your friend won an award or settlement of which he only got £1500 and his lawyers got £8000?  Or are you perhaps trying to say something entirely different?

need_a_home_not_a_roof

I haven't read all the replies but we're 5 and half years into a personal injury case and it probably won't settle until late this year. The other side keep trying to settle but for a nominal amount. They're eager to settle before we know exactly how the injury will impact my husband in the future and all the expert witness reports are in. 

Also the otherside can't be too keen to settle because they'd get in touch with your solicitor and ask if you wish to start negotiations, which is what our defendants have just done. We declined on the advice of the solicitor because they only wish to negotiate now before our case is made stronger.

My advice would be to sit it out. They can't drag it out unnecessarily because the court gives them a timetable and while there's some room for requesting a delay, the judge will want a good reason.