In this guide, we’ll be discussing how professional negligence solicitors could help you seek compensation for the loss you suffered after a professional, such as a personal injury solicitor, breached the duty of care they owed you.
Additionally, we will explore the process of beginning a professional negligence claim, including the criteria that need to be met and the time limits that need to be adhered to.
How Can A Professional Negligence Solicitor Help You?
The main regulatory body for lawyers and solicitors is called the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA). This provides guidance on the standards that should be provided by solicitors and lawyers when they representing their claimants. Later, we’ll be going into more detail about how a solicitor could fail to adhere to these standards.
If you have any other questions, please get in touch with an advisor. They can provide free advice regarding your potential claim. Additionally, if they find your claim to be valid, they may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel. To get in touch:
- Chat with an advisor via the live chat feature below
- Call on 0161 696 9685
- Fill out our contact form
Choose A Section
- How Can Professional Negligence Solicitors Help You?
- When Can You Make A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Personal Injury Solicitor?
- How Much Compensation Could I Get After Claiming Against A Personal Injury Solicitor?
- Why Make A No Win No Fee Claim With Professional Negligence Solicitors?
- Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Solicitor
- Learn More About The Professional Negligence Claim Process
How Can Professional Negligence Solicitors Help You?
Professional negligence solicitors can offer several services, such as:
- Building evidence for your case
- Keeping you updated on the progress of your case
- Valuing how much compensation you are entitled to
- Presenting your case in full within the relevant time limit
The solicitors from our panel offer services similar to this and can help you through the different stages of the claims process. They also have experience handling claims of this nature and can help you understand the steps that need to be taken in order to seek compensation for your loss.
If you have any further questions about the ways a solicitor could help you, don’t hesitate to contact an advisor by using the number above.
When Can You Make A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Personal Injury Solicitor?
The following three points form the basis of professional negligence:
- A professional, such as a personal injury solicitor, has a duty of care towards you.
- There is a breach of their duty of care.
- You experience loss as a result of this breach.
If your claim meets these criteria, you could be eligible to begin a professional negligence claim. The claim would be made against the law firm as oppose to the solicitor. This would be done through the law firm’s professional indemnity insurance.
A personal injury solicitor owes a duty of care to their clients to provide the services that meet the correct standard. A failure to do so could occur in a variety of ways, including a solicitor missing a crucial deadline, or a claim being improperly handled.
In the sections below, we have provided further examples of how a solicitor could fail to adhere to the standards expected of them.
Has Your Solicitor Under-Settled Your Personal Injury Claim?
In some scenarios, a solicitor might provide a client with bad legal advice in regard to settling a personal injury claim. This could lead to a client receiving less compensation than they are entitled to.
This could happen when a solicitor hasn’t fully investigated all your injuries. For example, you may have informed them about both physical and psychological injuries that you sustained but they only investigated your physical injuries. As a result, the psychological harm you suffered is not included in your claim.
Additionally, you may have provided them with evidence of financial losses, such as payslips that show your loss of earnings. If they fail to include this in your claim, you may lose the opportunity to receive compensation for these.
Has The Limitation Date Been Missed By Your Solicitor?
When making a personal injury claim, there is a general three-year limitation period in which legal proceedings need to be started. If a solicitor fails to bring forward your claim within this time limit, they have missed the limitation period causing your claim to become statute-barred.
After a case has become statute-barred, it means you are longer able to pursue this claim. This means you lose the chance to seek compensation. In these instances, you could begin a professional negligence claim for the loss you have suffered.
My Solicitor’s Actions Have Caused My Case To Be Struck Out
In certain instances, a failure to comply with deadlines or instructions laid down by the court, may result in the court striking out the claim. They may strike out the full claim or parts of the claim. If only parts of the claim are struck out, you can continue to pursue the rest of the claim.
To discuss your specific case, please get in touch on the number above. An advisor can assess whether one of the professional negligence solicitors from our panel could begin working on your case.
How Much Compensation Could I Get After Claiming Against A Personal Injury Solicitor?
The purpose of professional negligence compensation is to place you in the position you would have been in had your personal injury solicitor provided services that met the correct standard.
In successful personal injury claims, a settlement comprising general and special damages could be awarded. As such, if you make a successful professional negligence claim against a personal injury solicitor, you could be awarded these two heads of claim in your settlement plus an additional 8% interest for each year that has passed since your initial claim.
General damages aims to compensate for the pain and suffering, both physical and emotional, caused by your injuries. Whilst special damages aims to compensate for the financial losses caused by your injuries, such as loss of earnings, care costs and travel expenses.
In order to value general damages, solicitors can use the guideline award brackets from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). We have included some of these in the table below. However, you should only use these as a guide because each settlement will vary.
| Type of Injury | Level of Severity | Other Notes | Guideline Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injuries Involving Paralysis | Quadriplegia | Cases include where the injured person is not in any physical pain, has full awareness of their disability and has a life expectancy of more than 25 years. | £324,600 to £403,990 |
| Injuries Affecting Senses | Total Blindness | There has been complete loss of sight in both eyes. | In the region of £268,720 |
| Head Injury | Moderate (i) | There has been a moderate to modest intellectual deficit with an impact on senses and personality as well as a significant risk of epilepsy. | £150,110 to £219,070 |
| Back Injuries | Severe (i) | Spinal cord and nerve root damage causing severe pain and disability. | £91,090 to £160,980 |
| Chest Injuries | Traumatic Injury | There is a traumatic injury to the chest, lungs, and/or heart. This causes permanent damage as well as function impairment. | £65,740 to £100,670 |
| Arm Injuries | Less Severe | Significant disabilities but there is a substantial degree of recovery that has already happened or will be expected. | £19,200 to £39,170 |
| Ankle Injuries | Modest | Injuries such as less serious, minor or undisplaced fractures and sprains. | Up to £13,740 |
| Shoulder Injuries | Moderate | Ongoing symptoms for around 2 years, including discomfort and limited movement, from frozen shoulder. | £7,890 to £12,770 |
| Elbow Injuries | Moderate or Minor | Simple fractures, tennis elbow and lacerations that don't cause any permanent damage or result in function impairment of a permanent nature. | Up to £12,590 |
| Achilles Tendon | Minor | A turning of the ankle that causes some tendon damage and lack of ankle support. | £7,270 to £12,590 |
Why Make A No Win No Fee Claim With Professional Negligence Solicitors?
Providing that you have a valid claim, you could choose to make a claim with one of the professional negligence solicitors from our panel. In doing so, they can offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Under the terms of this contract, you won’t typically have to pay any upfront fees or make any ongoing payments for the work your solicitor does on your claim. Also, you won’t have to pay anything for the work that they have completed on your case in the scenario that your case is unsuccessful.
However, in the case that you’re successful in your claim, you’ll have to pay a success fee. This is a percentage taken from your compensation. However, The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 caps the amount solicitors are able to take.
Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Professional Negligence Claim Against A Solicitor
If you are interested in working with one of the professional negligence solicitors from our panel on a No Win No Fee basis, please get in touch with an advisor.
They can assess whether you have a valid claim with a chance of success and could connect you with a solicitor to begin working your case. Additionally, they can provide further guidance on the claims process, including the eligibility criteria.
To get in touch, you can:
- Chat with an advisor via the live chat feature below
- Call on 0161 696 9685
- Fill out our contact form
Learn More About The Professional Negligence Claim Process
For more of our guides:
- No Win No Fee Claim Solicitors
- Personal Injury Compensation
- How Many Personal Injury Claims Go To Court?
For more external information:
Thank you for reading our guide on how professional negligence solicitors could help you pursue a claim against a personal injury solicitor. If you have any other questions, please get in touch using the details provided above.
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