PI Brief Update

Fast Paced Change in Catastrophic Brain Injury Litigation - Bill Braithwaite QC, Head of Exchange Chambers

08/11/14. Over the years, management of catastrophic brain injury has become increasingly specialised for lawyers, and it is interesting to see how some litigators have failed to keep up with the changes. Years ago, lawyers just got expert reports, costed them, and presented a financial claim to the insurer. Nowadays, in my opinion, good catastrophic injury lawyers take a real part in the rehabilitation of the injured person, help the family to cope with the catastrophe, resolve accommodation and care issues, help to obtain relevant equipment, and become involved in the creation of a plan for life.

When you take over someone else’s file, it is fascinating to see how they have approached the problems. Recently, I had that experience, and it emphasised to me that it can be difficult to distinguish between the truly expert and the apparently so. This file looked ok superficially, but in reality the solicitor had achieved nothing useful. To many people, though, it would not have been obvious that there had been any failings – doubtless all the relevant boxes were ticked.

Luckily, the client became so dissatisfied that he made a call to me, to ask for help. In those circumstances, I never give direct advice about what to do, I just tell people what their rights are. For example, they have the right to employ a solicitor in whom they have confidence, which usually means that he or she gets things done, and they have the right to change the solicitor if they are dissatisfied.

Bill Braithwaite QC
Head of Exchange Chambers
This article was first published at http://billbraithwaite.com/blog/

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