PI firm attacks Jackson reforms in £1m campaign
A personal injury firm has launched a £1m advertising campaign to attack government reforms of the no-win no-fee system.
Birmingham firm Claim Today Solicitors (CTS) will spread its marketing drive across newspapers, television and the web for at least three months. The campaign is timed to coincide with changes being debated in the House of Lords under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill.
CTS will encourage people who may have a claim to register it before reforms are passed, while at the same time raising awareness of the government’s proposals to restrict the civil litigation system.
Rob Bhol, managing director of CTS, said the abolition of success fees paid by defendants will stop claimants from making legitimate claims. With defendants incentivised to hold out to trial, he argued, only the wealthiest of accident victims will be able to take their case forward.
Bhol added: ‘The only beneficiaries from the changes to no-win no-fee arrangements will be big insurance companies and rogue employers who neglect health and safety for their workers. In future many people with genuine claims for injuries caused by employers who owe them a duty of care will have no chance of seeking redress.
‘There is though a small window of opportunity before the law is changed and that's why we are urging all accident victims to claim today.’
The government’s reforms will be debated again in the Lords on 10 January, the second of an estimated seven readings to hear possible amendments.
They are largely in line with recommendations made for the litigation system in 2010 by Lord Justice Jackson, although he did not advocate the cuts to legal aid that are a controversial feature of the bill.
Comments
Laudable effort but but the whole profession needs to coagulate
On one hand we have the street canvassing wing of personal injury firms lacerating through high street crowds, quizzing the passers by about their recent fall in some supermarket mall and on the other hand, we have genuine medical negligence claims, this is murky water. I still sense much public antipathy towards these legislative changes. The legal profession needs to work on any challenge as 'one unit' and educate the general public about the potential implications.
This CTS campaign is laudable but I fear that the profession is far too fragmented to voice their concerted opposition to these changes. A coordinated effort involving multiple bodies and firms is required to fully convey the message?
Funnily enough, I sense much
Funnily enough, I sense much public antipathy to legal fees being larger than the damages awarded to the claimant, and the lawyers who receive them. It depends which "public" one listens to, I suppose.
Where is the Law Society?
The Law Society has gone extremely quiet over the Legal Aid bill for some months now. Where are they and why aren't they making more noise?
More public campaigining is needed on both Parts 1 and Parts 2 of the bill. More needs to be heard from the Law Society.
Where is the Law Society?
The Law Society has gone extremely quiet over the Legal Aid bill for some months now. Where are they and why aren't they making more noise?
More public campaigining is needed on both Parts 1 and Parts 2 of the bill. More needs to be heard from the Law Society.
Yet another...
greed-driven initiative.
I suspect the general public will have no time for these parasites and will see this for what it is - pure greed and self interest dressed up as a form of public service.