If you have been injured and looking to make a claim for compensation, you will want to know that your Personal Injury Lawyer is competent and will do their best for you. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, so you may be in the position where you can bring a claim against them for professional negligence. We answer your questions here about what this means and how we can help you.
What can I bring a negligence claim against my former Personal Injury Lawyer for?
There are a number of reasons as to why you can bring a claim including:
All Personal Injury Lawyers should, at the time of your initial enquiry, ascertain when the incident happened that caused your injury, or when a diagnosis was made. This is because there is usually a three year time limit to bringing a personal injury claim and so pursuing a claim outside of this, or not settling a claim within this time limit, will be negligent. Different time limits can apply depending on the injury; for example claims concerning children and vulnerable adults will have a different time limit, and claims arising from maritime and air travel accidents will have a shorter time limit of two years.
Failure to obtain your medical evidence or using this irresponsibly
Medical evidence is vital in a personal injury case as this is the basis of your claim. Inadequate evidence will mean that your lawyer cannot properly assess the value of your case, and could lead to an insufficient financial offer or settlement. Not obtaining the correct medical evidence, or failing to record it adequately, can be extremely damaging to your case and is negligent on behalf of the lawyer.
As part of collecting the medical evidence, it will become clear whether you have ongoing symptoms as a result of your injury, and if the medical evidence does not show this then your lawyer will have been negligent in not investigating properly. The fact you have ongoing symptoms is an important factor in the level of compensation you receive as it is likely you will have further medical or rehabilitation costs to meet.
Every injury is different and will cause different consequences, both physically and emotionally. Injuries from a road traffic accidents, for example, will be different to a claim against an organisation for mesothelioma, and it is important that your lawyer understands the complexities to each situation and what medical evidence or considerations need to be taken. A negligent Personal Injury Lawyer is likely to treat all claims the same, when it is unlikely this approach will lead to an adequate outcome for all.
During the process of your claim, it may be that the other side make financial offers in order to settle out of Court. While your lawyer may not believe this is adequate for your injury and feels you should continue for a larger figure or to proceed to Court, this is not a decision they can make for themselves without informing you.
A Personal Injury Lawyer should always advise you of the insurance implications, as well as any legal costs you may be eligible to pay at the end of your claim. If you have not been advised of this at the outset of your claim, then your lawyer may have been negligent.
This is not an exclusive list as a Personal Injury Lawyer can be proven negligent in a variety of ways. Put simply, a Personal Injury Lawyer has a duty of care towards you as a client, and not demonstrating this is negligent and could lead to financial loss. If you feel your lawyer has been negligent with your case, you have up to six years to bring a claim against them.
Our team can advise you as to whether your lawyer has been negligent, the process to proceeding with a claim against them, as well as the likely outcome; find out more about the team on the images below, call us on 0800 91 92 30 or email injuryteamenquiry@warnergoodman.co.uk. You can also discover how much compensation you could potentially receive by using our Personal Injury Compensation Calculator.
