From 6.4.09 in personal injury claims where the claimed value is above £1000 but not £25,000 will (unless there are other relevant factors) fall to be allocated to the fast track proceedure. With this in mind this is what the President of the Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges wrote this in the Law Society Gazette this week……..
“I believe there are worrying aspects in the way some fast track cases are handled. It is understandable that many insurance companies who are really the main players in road traffic claims ,instruct certain firms to conduct these cases in bulk…..what is less understandable and excusable is the low standard of preparation and of the service provided to the client in some firms.
A large volume of fast track road traffic cases is now handled remotely with the solicitors office possibly hundreds of miles from where the client lives. There is nothing instrinsically wrong in that,provided the service provided is satisfactory.But time after time,judges see litigants in court whether claimant or defendant,who have no idea of what is going on,and have not been properly advised about what to expect.
Usually they will be represented by Counsel and he or she will be the first lawyer they have engaged with since the litigation began…….surely doing high volume work using low grade fee earners should not mean selling the clients short by sloppy preparation.
The experience of going to court is not something clients are used to and the last thing they need is to feel they have been let down by their lawyers…. ” We agree totally!
(c) The Law SocietyGazette
