Public wants ban on injury compensation calls and texts worksopguardian.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from worksopguardian.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
26 July 2021
Mike Knight, ARAG, discusses the future of Clinical Negligence
Like almost every other profession, discipline and walk of life, clinical negligence practitioners have seen a huge transformation wrought by the pandemic.
Mike Knight
By all accounts, the sector coped remarkably well under the restrictions that were so hastily introduced, last year. A lot of credit has rightly been given to the engineers of the COVID-19 Clinical Negligence Protocol agreed between NHS Resolution the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) and Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA).
The protocol, however, was not formally introduced until August, by which time solicitors, barristers, judges and numerous other professionals had already found new ways to progress cases in the highly challenging circumstances, and even hold hearings in person, where necessary and possible.
New business models
Although it is early days, the new rules on whiplash claims and the launch of the new digital portal are prompting firms to reassess their business approach in this area, says John Cuss, vice-chair of the Law Society’s Civil Litigation Section Committee. The reforms, first announced by chancellor George Osborne (pictured) in 2015 and originally meant to come into force in April 2019, have been repeatedly delayed so many firms are still working on a wait-and-see basis. Others have exited the market (either altogether, or to focus only on the higher end), while some have evolved to adopt new funding models to serve lower-value claims, for example under either conditional fee agreements or damages-based agreements, according to Cuss. A small number of firms are also considering ‘unbundled legal services’ where they would provide a limited legal advice service on aspects of claims such as a complicated self-employed loss of earnings claim or a complex liability
Forum of Insurance Lawyers Scotland chair Bruce Goodbrand and Northern Ireland chair Kevin Shevlin spoke to Post about how different arms of Foil work together