No win no fee debate fuelled by surfing injury
We reported recently on Gwen Spurlock and how she had suffered a brain haemorrage after falling off the indoor surf machine at Swansea's new £32 million leisure centre. She decided to take legal action against the leisure complex using a
no win no fee lawyer.
Her decision has sparked lively debate among users of the leisure centre. It seems public opinion is split over whether she should have pursued her case against the LC with around half of the responses in support of her move and the other half condemning her and the so-called '
claims culture' said to be consuming our nation.
Despite the serious nature of top young surfer Gwen Spulock's injuries, which caused her to miss lengthy periods of school during the time leading up to her GCSE exams and prevented her from taking part in important European surfing competitions, many feel that she is perhaps taking advantage of the situation for her own monetary gain.
Keen user of the LC, Rebecca, from Llanelli in South Wales says of the incident: “I'm not being funny, but everything comes with risk these days, accidents do happen. I don't think that girl should spoil things for others like me who enjoy the LC thoroughly. Everything is about
money and what you can get out of things.”
Others have blasted comments such as this saying that the seriousness of the incident has been overlooked. Gwen Spurlock could have suffered irreparable brain damage as a result of her injuries and she had to undergo a series of dramatic operations.
As one reader pointed out, “this was not a minor accident. She is not trying to rip people off over slipping on a loose paving stone and mildly spraining her ankle.”
It seems no win no fee claims have a certain stigma attached to them which leads members of the public to assume that all claims are blown out of proportion in a bid to secure big payouts.
A small number of bogus or seemingly trivial claims have led all claimants to be tarred with the same brush. Those bringing genuine claims are often ridiculed regardless of the injustice and pain they have suffered.
Lawyers in Swansea insist that they have not seen an increase in claims, it is merely public perception and heavy advertising and media coverage which have changed.
Wynford Arthur is the president of the Swansea Law Society. He argues that there is a definite time and place for no win no fee claims and Gwen Spurlock's case falls into that category without a doubt.
He said, quite simply, “there is no increase in personal injury litigation.
”
He even went as far as saying “If anything, the absence of availability of legal aid has resulted in many unfortunate victims of accidents being unable to take on claims where they may have had a reasonable prospect of recovering damages for injuries caused by the fault of others.”
He finished off with the comment that “there may be cases of false claims, but if caught claimants face the full rigour of the criminal law.”
Updated on 6/4/2008