Questions to ask your Solicitor
Most solicitors undertaking childhood acquired brain injury compensation claims will offer potential clients a free initial interview without obligation. This can take place in the solicitors’ office, but the solicitor should be willing to visit you at home if you prefer.
It is important that you use this meeting to find out about the solicitor and how they will handle your child’s case before you commit yourself to instructing them. You should try and see at least 2 solicitors before making your decision.
Here are some questions which you can ask the solicitors at your first meeting. The list is not exhaustive and you should ask about what is important to you.
Questions about experience
How long have you undertaken childhood acquired brain injury work?
What proportion of your cases involve childhood acquired brain injury?
How many childhood acquired brain injury cases have you handled?
What is the biggest childhood acquired brain injury claim you have ever settled?
How many cases of this type have you taken to Court in the last 5 years?
What were the results?
Childhood acquired brain injury claims are far more complex than most personal injury compensation claims. They are also very different from cases involving adults with acquired brain injury. Different considerations apply both in relation to whether compensation is payable and in relation to the amount of any compensation and when this can be assessed. The compensation will be intended to meet the child’s needs throughout their lifetime and the sums involved can be very substantial. It is important that your solicitor has significant experience of this specific type of case.
Are you a member of a specialist panel?
The Law Society of England and Wales and the Law Society of Scotland both run accreditation schemes for personal injury specialists. There are also accreditation schemes for clinical negligence work run by the Law Society and by the charity AvMA.
Questions about the service
Will you be dealing with my child’s case personally?
Many senior solicitors will delegate some of the routine tasks on a case or arrange for an assistant to handle the claim on a day to day basis. Others will deal with all matters personally. It is important to find out how your solicitor proposes to deal with your child’s case and to ensure that you are happy with this.
How will we be kept informed about progress?
Can we phone you if we have questions or concerns?
Many problems between solicitors and their clients arise from lack of communication. It is important that your solicitor agrees to keep you regularly informed about progress in the case and provides you with a direct dial number which you can call if you have any questions or concerns or simply want an update. Some solicitors are reluctant to give clients a direct number and prefer calls to be handled by secretaries or assistants, and if this is what is proposed, you will need to check that you are happy with this.
Questions about fees and funding
How can my child’s case be funded?
Will I have to pay any money to enable the case to be brought?
Will I have to pay your fees or the other side’s fees if the case is unsuccessful?
If the case is successful, will any legal fees or expenses be deducted from my child’s compensation?
There are a number of ways in which a childhood acquired brain injury claim can be funded, including legal expenses insurance or under a conditional fee agreement (commonly known as “no win, no fee”). Public funding (“legal aid”) is available for clinical negligence claims and many children area eligible as this is assessed according to the child’s own financial circumstances, rather than the circumstances of the parents. Different firms offer different arrangements for the same funding method. For example, some may ask parents to pay “disbursements” (expenses) during the case whereas other firms will fund these themselves. Similarly, some firms (but not all) may deduct certain legal fees or expenses from the compensation if the claim is successful.
It is important that you find out at the outset what funding methods are available for your child’s case and whether there is any possibility of being required to pay something during the case or at the end. If so, you are entitled to an estimate of those fees.