A Bill is going through Parliament that will withdraw the availability of Legal Aid for victims of medical accidents.  It will also reduce the amount of compensation successful claimants receive.  The Government believes that these measures will save the tax payer money and curb unmeritorious claims.

In future legal aid will not be available.  Practically nowadays only children who have suffered a severe injury, such as oxygen starvation at birth, get legal aid.  These are complex  expensive cases which are usually strenuously defended.  If legal aid is removed, most of these cases will not be pursued – they are far too expensive for the solicitor to fund the investigation on a no win no fee basis.   

In future all successful claimants will have about 25% of their compensation deducted to pay legal costs.  Currently this burden is on the party that caused the damage i.e. the defendant.  It is proposed to transfer this burden to the victim.  General damages will increase by 10% to compensate this but however you add up the figures the injured party will still be worse off.

These reforms are not good news for people injured as a result of medical malpractice. 

 Hilton Armstrong:  September 2011

NEW WEBSITE UNVEILED

 I am delighted to welcome all visitors to our newly re-vamped website. Some of you may be familiar with our old site, which served us well for many years; however we feel that this new website displays features that make it more visually pleasing, informative and easy to navigate than before.

 We have retained the important information on this area of law that we wish to pass on to all potential, past and present clients, whilst incorporating new features as follows.

 Returning Features:

•  Introduction to the firm
• Profiles of members of the team
• News about the firm
• Case studies giving examples of past cases
• Feedback from clients on the work we have done

New Features

•  Video providing information on our firm and clinical negligence law in general presented by Hilton Armstrong & Peter Foulkes, Partners in the firm.
• A revamped contact page with map location of the office.
• A “Frequently Asked Questions” page providing guidance on issues surrounding clinical negligence claims such as how it can be funded, how long a person has to bring a claim and how we go about investigating.
• A “News & Views” section incorporating case studies and company news but also including regular updates on items of interest to clients such as changes to the law or their rights.
• A handy shortcut menu on the side & a search function in the top corner of each page
• The option to leave a comment on most of the video/news or information provided.

The new website finalises our recent re-branding and we feel the personal video, comment and contact features add to our commitment to “personal care for medical claims” for all past, current and future clients. We hope that you find all of the information you require.

Joanne Dennison –September 2011

We are delighted to congratulate Kathryn Watson on completing her training contract with us and accepting a position as a Newly Qualified Solicitor in our firm from 1st July 2011. She is already a valued member of the team at Armstrong Foulkes and we look forward to following her legal career with great interest.