Ministers playing 'dangerous game' with injured people

Unqualified marketing men could end up handling complex personal injury cases as a result of a government shake-up of legal services, personal injury lawyers have warned.

In its response to a Legal Services Board consultation on providers of legal services, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says that the running of personal injury cases should be reserved for law firms.  

APIL president David Bott said: “Proposed reforms to the way people can fund legal cases plus a ban on referral fees is an ominous formula which could lead to marketing men at claims management companies (CMCs) actually running personal injury cases.

“The government is playing a very dangerous game with the future well-being of injured people”.

“If proposals going through Parliament come into force, new options for funding legal cases will be available and will allow inexperienced and unqualified people to start running cases until the point they go to court.

“Claims management companies are very good at advertising legal services, but they’re not lawyers. These businesses won’t be making any money from referral fees after they are banned, so will need to do something else to survive. Changes in the current Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will open the door for them to start handling cases themselves.”

The response follows a meeting between the insurance industry backed Civil Justice Group (CJG) and ex-justice secretary Jack Straw.

They agreed that the Ministry of Justice’s proposal to make the payment of referral fees a regulatory rather than a criminal offence is insufficiently far reaching to ensure an effective compliance regime.  

Commenting following the meeting, CJG spokesman and solicitors Kennedys partner Richard West said:  “It is clear that there is broad political support for reform on this issue. However, there is still much work to be done to ensure that the MoJ arrives at the right outcome. Our major concern at this stage is that the proposed amendments to LASPO (Legal Aid, sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill) as tabled by the government will create potential loopholes.

“As members of the CJG we will be working closely with members of Parliament and officials at the MOJ when this Bill goes to the Lords to ensure that policymakers understand the need for a comprehensive reform package which addresses any unintended consequences.”