In most cases medical negligence and personal injury lawyers do an admirable job of winning compensation for those who have been injured as a result of mistakes by healthcare professionals or accidents. However, claims against lawyers for under-settling such claims are on the increase says Mike Wilson, a Partner at law firm Bridge McFarland LLP.
If you are unhappy with the settlement of your medical negligence claim or personal injury claim you may have a claim against your previous solicitor for professional negligence”.
Mike said: “This has become an increasing problem as many struggling personal injury firms have turned their hand to more profitable medical negligence work, which is very different”.
“Often in these cases the individual has felt pressured by their solicitor or barrister into accepting a settlement that was far lower than they were expecting. In some cases the shortfall can be hundreds of thousands of pounds. Of course there may be very good reasons for this based on the evidence or issues with the claim, but it can also be a sign that a claim has been under-valued or under-settled and there may be a claim there for professional negligence”.
Another strong indicator of professional negligence is where a medical negligence claim has been settled on a ‘split-liability’ basis. This is where the defendant accepts only part of the blame for the injuries and will reduce any recovery of compensation. This is inappropriate in most medical negligence cases.
There are many reasons why a claim may be under-settled. It may be because the lawyer dealing with the case lacked experience, missed important facts or under-valued the claim. It may also be because they are under-pressure to settle claims early and recover costs.
If you think your medical negligence claim or personal injury claim may have been under-settled by your previous solicitor, you can contact us for a free, confidential, no obligation assessment of your case. In most cases we will act on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis if the case has sufficient prospects of success.