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Dear Paul,

It's been many years since I last acted for a prisoner, but when I did, I had a call from the solicitor acting for the prison. She was a partner at a well known defendant PI firm (the claim involved significant orthopaedic injures sustained in a fall), and phoned me on receipt of the letter of claim to say, in terms 'You need to know that we defend all claims to trial, irrespective of merits, pour discourager des autres.'

This was almost 10 years ago now, and things may have changed since then. Clearly though, at the time, there was a policy decision to defend everything, no matter what. Folly for the taxpayer of course, but then the perpetually incensed Daily Mail brigade who doubtless drive such policies are probably oblivious to the legal and economic realities of prison claims.