Taylor’s trip to the Solicitor
Taylor came back to the office this week to talk about Conditional Fee Agreements and making a claim generally. He is still feeling the strain of his injuries and insists that he is on ‘light duties’. I questioned what duties Taylor had managed before, light or otherwise?
Taylor brought photos (see part 1) of the defective pavement which caused his accident. I studied these carefully and we had a constructive interview about making a claim against the Local Authority. Fortunately for other pedestrians and possible victims, the Council had now repaired the area.
We sat down with a coffee (and a saucer of milk) and I asked him about the mechanism of his accident, his injuries and the effects on his day-to-day life. I warned him that ‘difficulties getting into nightclubs’ was unlikely to attract judicial sympathy, but nevertheless, I advised he had a reasonable chance of a successful claim.
I explained to Taylor that, since we didn’t pay him, he had no way of paying our fees privately. Fortunately, the majority of personal injury work is undertaken on a no-win, no-fee basis. A Conditional Fee Agreement (as it is known) is basically an agreement between the Solicitor and the client that if they recover compensation, then the Solicitor is entitled to a success fee which is a percentage (25% max) of the damages. If the client does not win compensation then he has nothing to pay, provided Taylor cooperates with us and is honest in his dealings with us and does not grossly exaggerate his losses or the effects of his injuries.
Taylor was happy for me to act for him and signed an authority enabling us to submit the claim to the Council’s insurers online as well as the conditional fee agreement. After our meeting, I sent the Local Authority details of the accident and set out why we believed they were liable. With relatively minor injuries like those suffered by Taylor, this is done electronically on the Public liability MOJ Portal. Essentially, the Portal is an online link between Claimants’ solicitors and most Defendants’ insurers which has improved the speed of personal injury claims since it’s introduction.
Next week – The liability decision.
Do you want milk or cream in your coffee?
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