Do you need an injury lawyer?
It is a well known fact that seeking legal representation from an injury lawyer is an expensive business. There are ways in which you can reduce or even eradicate any fees you might be charged, but often it takes time for decisions to be made and even with a conditional fee agreement, you may end up paying thousands of pounds for "after the event" insurance. In light of this, it might be a very tempting prospect to represent yourself in a personal injury claim. Although this is complicated and very time consuming, it can be done but there are a few things you need to bear in mind.
Firstly, you will need irrefutable evidence that the accident you are claiming for was not your fault. It does not matter how strongly you might believe that the other party was to blame, for this belief to have any weight with the law you will need to be able to prove it. This means you will have to provide evidence of any injuries or harm you suffered as a result of the incident and that there was an act of carelessness or gross misconduct on the side of the defence. The latter part will be hardest to prove since, taking medical negligence as an example, even if you find a medical expert to testify that the actions of the practitioner involved were negligent, the court will not accept that as evidence if the other party can demonstrate that they acted logically and reasonably. Even if this claim comes from a minority of doctors, it will still be upheld in court, making any testimony provided to the contrary void. Even after proving the actions of the other party were negligent or careless and caused the incident, you will then have to demonstrate that it was this that caused or contributed to the harm you suffered and any losses as a result of that. Compensation claims can be very complicated, with many grey areas and differing professional opinions, particularly in the realm of medical negligence claims.
If you are representing yourself, another problem you might face is that of limitation. With most compensation claims, there is a window of three years from the time of the accident in which the victim can file a claims case. In cases such as road accidents or accidents at work, this shouldn't be a problem, however for cases that involve medical negligence and industrial claims, it might be the case that the victim is unaware of any harm they have suffered for a number of years after the event. If you find yourself outside of the three year timeframe, it is strongly advised to seek advice from a solicitor. A solicitor will know how statutes and similar previous claims will affect your case and will also ask questions addressing when you were first aware you were injured and that the injury was attributable to another party. Based on this information, they will then be able to proceed with the case in a suitable manner. There is so much legal jargon involved with limitation, it is best to seek advice from a solicitor as soon as possible, as the technicalities involved are not always easily understood by a layman and you may waste valuable time trying to represent yourself.
The success rate for self-representation varies depending on the type of claim you are filing. In areas such as medical negligence, the success rate is low whereas in other areas it is higher. The highest success rates still lie with the professionals though. There is a lot of groundwork you will have to do if you choose to represent yourself and it will help your case if you have a basic knowledge of the law - something which will only take more time. Although it might seem costly, you could end up saving yourself both time and hassle by seeking advice from a specialist injury lawyer.
Updated on 30/06/2008