How we can Specters help with professional negligence
At Specters, we have a specialised team of lawyers dealing specifically with professional negligence claims against a wide range of professionals, including solicitors, surveyors, conveyancers, financial advisors and accountants. We may be able to act for you on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis, which means that you will not have to pay our legal fees unless you win you claim.
We are seeing increasing numbers of professional negligence claims against solicitors that arise from mishandled personal injury matters. The exact reason for this rise is not clear. We suspect it could relate to changes in the personal injury sector. Over the last few years, lawyers have seen their legal fees slashed and as a result, they have had to cut costs. We believe that there are more and more claimants with significant injuries whose cases are managed by underqualified and/or over worked lawyers. The knock-on effect has been increasing numbers of errors and mistakes.
One of the most common ways a lawyer can make mistakes in personal injury is by under settling their client’s case. There are a wide range of issues which can be easily missed by your solicitors thereby causing them to undersettle claims. Examples of these include:
- Failure to take instructions on all injuries suffered
It is crucial that your solicitors record and consider all of your injuries from your very first meeting. They should also consider any of your new injuries suffered at a later stage as a result of the accident. Failure to include all your injuries in your claim will result in you receiving less general damages.
- Failure to obtain full and complete medical evidence
Your solicitors have duties to collect all essential medical evidence on time for your claim. According to Browning v Brachers (A Firm), failure to do so may result in negligence. In many cases, a medical expert will refer the claimant to a specialist doctor if they consider it necessary. Solicitors should be diligently carrying out their recommendations. Otherwise, this could result in the claimant receiving deficient compensation and losing out on necessary medical treatment to aid their recovery.
- Failure to consider all potential claims for special damages
Special damages are compensation that covers any financial losses and expenses incurred as a result of your accident. Examples of these are loss of earnings, medication and treatment costs, travel expenses and future losses.
You could claim for your future employment loss. This depends on your likelihood of any future promotions and pay increases, alternative employment, overtime and the general state of the job market. In many cases, this calculation will be based on the difference between what the claimant would have earned but for the accident as against their future earning capacity as a result of the injury.
You could also claim for Smith v Manchester awards if you suffer a disadvantage in the labour market as a result of a residual disability resulting from an injury. For example, a visible eye or hand injuries may lead to discrimination.
You may have a claim against your solicitors if they failed to claim these for you.
How Specters can help you
Specters have an experienced team specialises in dealing with claims against solicitors, leading to successful resolutions on behalf of their professional negligence clients. Our expertise allows us to quickly identify the prospects of success of a claim from as early as your initial call.
If we think that you have a potential claim, we will assist you with your professional negligence claim to recover the loss compensation and medical treatment from your former solicitors by a loss of chance claim. Under this claim, the claimant will need to prove that you had a real and substantial prospect of succeeding in the claim for the additional compensation and/or treatment with supporting medical evidence.
Legal professionals should have the benefit of professional indemnity insurance in order to cover them in the event of a professional negligence claim, and therefore if you consider that you have suffered loss due to negligence advice and/or conduct by your solicitors, you should have a discussion with a member of the team at Specters today.
Please call us on 0300 303 3629 or vist our website to find out your options.
