Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence Claims Guide
In this guide, we provide information about when you may be eligible to sue solicitors for professional negligence. We begin by describing what professional negligence is and then give some examples. Specifically, this guide explores how professional negligence could affect a personal injury claim, so we will examine time limits and compensation calculations that relate to this kind of claim.
A body known as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) provides regulatory standards that lawyers must meet. If they fall short of these standards, you can report the solicitor to this body. All professionals, including personal injury solicitors, must provide clients with a reasonable standard of service, their failure to do this could be considered professional negligence if it causes the client losses. The following sections will discuss this further.
As well as this, we explore how a No Win No Fee agreement, which our panel of solicitors usually offer to their clients, could provide you with a way to fund the services of a professional negligence solicitor.
If you’d like to learn more, keep reading. You can also speak with one of our helpful advisers by contacting our helpline. Below, we’ve provided several methods you can use to contact us. Reach us today by:
- Calling 0161 696 9685
- Filling in our ‘Contact Us’ form to request a call
- Using the chatbox on screen now to talk to an adviser
Browse Our Guide
- When Are You Able To Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence?
- Why Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence?
- Potential Compensation From A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Personal Injury Solicitor
- What Is The Time Limit When Seeking Compensation For Professional Negligence?
- Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Learn More About Examples Of Professional Negligence
When Are You Able To Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence?
Certain kinds of professionals, including solicitors, owe their clients a duty of care. This means that a personal injury solicitor must provide the correct level of service to the people they represent. If they don’t do this, their clients could suffer losses that would have been avoided otherwise.
To sue solicitors for professional negligence, a person must be able to show how their lawyer breached the duty of care they owed to their client and, as a result, caused them to suffer a loss. These kinds of claims benefit from two kinds of evidence:
- Evidence showing how your solicitor breached their duty of care. This could include letters and other items of correspondence between you and your personal injury solicitor.
- Evidence regarding the personal injury claim that your solicitor was handling for you. This should demonstrate that your claim was valid and that you suffered a loss because of your solicitor’s failings.
Speak to our advisers if you have questions about what evidence you need in professional negligence claims.
Why Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence?
If lawyers do not fulfil the correct standards when handling a personal injury or medical negligence claim, you may be able to sue the solicitors for professional negligence if this breach of duty has caused you to suffer the loss of chance. For instance, your lawyer could:
- Advise you to take a settlement that is too low in order to settle the case early
- Failed to include all your losses, such as loss of earnings, when you provided them with your payslips and proof of lost income.
- Act in a way that causes your case to be struck out, such as by missing court deadlines or failing to make court appearances.
It is important to note that not every failing on behalf of a solicitor will be deemed professional negligence. Contact our advisers if you have questions about the process of claiming against a personal injury solicitor.
Potential Compensation From A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Personal Injury Solicitor
A successful professional negligence claim against a solicitor could result in compensation that is intended to restore you to the position you would have been in if your solicitor had provided you with the correct level of service. When making a professional negligence claim against a personal injury solicitor, the compensation will be calculated the way it would have been for the initial claim for example, you would be awarded general damages and, in some cases, also special damages.
General damages are intended as a way to compensate you for the suffering that results from your injuries. For example, this could include both the physical pain caused by a spinal cord injury as well as the suffering caused by a psychological injury.
To help them calculate how much a claim may be worth, solicitors can refer to a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This outlines compensation brackets for different physical and psychological injuries. We’ve created a table that shows some of these entries. However, these figures are only intended to act as a guide.
If your professional negligence claim succeeds, you would receive 8% interest for each year that has passed since your original personal injury claim.
JCG Brackets
| Injury Type | JCG Brackets | Severity | Further Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paralysis Injury | £324,600 to £403,990 | Tetraplegia (i) | Individual may or may not be in physical pain, with the award taking into consideration the extent of their awareness regarding injuries as well as other factors. |
| Back Injury | £91,090 to £160,980 | Severe (i) | Injuries involving damage to spinal cord and the roots of the nerves. This causes severe pain, disability and impaired function of the lower organs. |
| Brain Injury | £90,720 to £150,110 | Moderate (ii) | Intellectual deficit that is modest to moderate, accompanied by the risk of developing epilepsy and greatly reduced ability to work. |
| Neck Injury | In the region of £148,330 | Severe (i) | Injuries associated with incomplete paraplegia, or continuing symptoms despite years of wearing a collar for 24 hours a day, or permanent spastic quadripariesis. |
| General Psychological Injury | £54,830 to £115,730 | Severe (i) | Marked difficulties with factors such as coping with life, future vulnerability and extent to which relationships are affected. |
| Internal Organ Injury | £65,740 to £100,670 | Permanent Damage | Traumatic injury that affects the lung(s), chest and/or heart. This reduces life expectancy and causes permanent damage and physical disability. |
| Knee Injury | £69,730 to £96,210 | Severe (i) | Injury associated with disruption of the joint, lengthy treatment, considerable pain and loss of function as well as other factors. |
| Other Arm Injury | £39,170 to £59,860 | Permanent Disability | Injuries that result in disability that is substantial and permanent in nature. |
| Leg Injury | £17,960 to £27,760 | Less Serious (i) | This bracket can include serious soft tissue injuries to one or both legs as well as fractures from which the person does not make a complete recovery. |
Special Damages
Another head of claim called special damages compensates for the financial losses experienced due to negligence. This could include:
- Loss of earnings, past or future
- Medical expenses
- The cost of getting to and from medical appointments
Speak to our advisers about how compensation is calculated if you successfully sue solicitors for professional negligence.
What Is The Time Limit When Seeking Compensation For Professional Negligence?
There is a 6-year time limit to start a professional negligence claim. This can be found in the Limitation Act 1980. Speak to one of our advisers to learn more. There are exceptions to this time limit, and they can help you understand how long you have to start a professional negligence claim against a solicitor.
Sue Solicitors For Professional Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis
You do not need a lawyer to start a claim for professional negligence. However, solicitors who are experts in the field of professional negligence, like the ones on our panel, can bring many benefits to your claim, such as collecting evidence in support of your case, corresponding with the defendant, advising if an offer is acceptable, get additional medical evidence if needed and also if the case goes to court they can represent you here.
The solicitors on our panel generally work on a No Win No Fee basis, specifically under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This kind of No Win No Fee agreement means that you wouldn’t have to pay for the solicitor’s services while your claim is ongoing. Also, the solicitor wouldn’t charge for their services if your claim fails entirely.
Instead, No Win No Fee professional negligence solicitors would take a success fee at the end of the claims process, but only if the claim succeeds. This is a percentage of the compensation that is subject to a legal cap.
Contact Us For Free To See If You Can Claim For Professional Negligence
If you are contemplating the benefits of beginning a professional negligence claim, our advisers can answer the questions you may have about the claims process. During a free consultation, they can explain the professional negligence time limit and provide a personalised estimate of your potential compensation. To learn more about your eligibility to sue solicitors for professional negligence, contact us by:
- Calling 0161 696 9685
- Filling in our ‘Contact Us’ form to request a call
- Using the chatbox on screen now to talk to an adviser
Learn More About Examples Of Professional Negligence
Further guides we’ve written:
- Do You Need A Solicitor For A Personal Injury Claim?
- Professional Negligence Claims Against Solicitors – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How Many Personal Injury Claims Go To Court?
Other resources on related subjects:
It is our hope that this article has provided useful information about when you may be eligible to sue solicitors for professional negligence. If you have further questions, contact our helpful team.