No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
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Medicolegal
No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
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Compensation paid to people whose illnesses were not spotted or were detected too late soared from £56 million in 2009-10 to more than £98 million in 2010-11 .Nearly one in ten of the 1,2
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Cat:OpenClinicalForum:c6963658-39d5-4313-a273-eef75ea388e7Discussion:03be13e5-76ef-40ff-b1e6-5848c6c1ed13
Forums » Open clinical » Medicolegal » No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
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No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 11/6/2012 8:59 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 959
First: 15/7/2011 Last: 21/5/2013 |
Compensation paid to people whose illnesses were not spotted or were detected too late soared from £56 million in 2009-10 to more than £98 million in 2010-11 .Nearly one in ten of the 1,204 successful cases brought against NHS trusts last year related to health staff failing to diagnose cancer, figures released by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA). Ministers have blamed “no-win, no-fee” conditional fee agreements for a sharp rise in the cost to the NHS of defending and settling legal proceedings brought for negligence .In January Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary (A Barrister QC), hit out at the “extraordinary” increase in payments to lawyers acting for medical negligence victims.Lawyers are earning "success fees" totalling £66 million a year for helping patients to sue the NHS, new figures have revealed.
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 11/6/2012 12:19 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 311
First: 7/5/2009 Last: 2/4/2013 |
I think this the other end of extreme in health care delivery only seen in the developed wordl. The fear of persecution leads the doctor to practice Defensive medicine and prescribe unnecessary tests and some time the medical claim cases can cost up to a million dollars ( all Taxpayers money) The other extreme happens in the developing countries with little or no accountability of doctors and resulting in preventable deaths ( due to doctors negligence) We need to find a balance betweent the two
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 11/6/2012 6:24 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3
First: 11/6/2012 Last: 11/6/2012 |
Patients do not magically win cases because of contingency fee agreements (no-win, no-fee). The bar for winning a medical negligence case is high and lawyers do not take on cases without a reasonable expectation of winning - they lose money if they do. Despite the best intentions of clinicians, we sometimes cause harm. Patients who have been harmed are entitled to compensation but many could never afford up-front legal fees. All that removing contingency fee agreements will achieve is to create a social divide whereby only the rich are compensated.
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 11/6/2012 6:51 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3045
First: 27/3/2012 Last: 20/5/2013 |
This problem of increasing incidence of claims against doctors by the patients whose illnesses were not timely spotted or being diagnosed late so as to cause a serious harm to the health as well as wealth is nowadays seen as a 'universal' phenomenon, not limited to the developed or developing countries. Nevertheless it does not seem logical to cut off the fees of the lawyers fighting against for a novel cause to provide justice to the affected & suffering population. |
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 12/6/2012 7:50 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3
First: 25/9/2011 Last: 12/6/2012 |
I agree with Dr Ashutosh that litigations are a universal phenomenon and not limited to a particular zone. The "no-win no-fee" arrangement seems pretty good as lawers would only select cases the are sure they will win. The swollen figures could just be because of increased awareness among patients. However it should not be that patients are being paid peanuts as compensation while lawers are eating the major chunk. Another point of view at looking at the issue is "If patients are asked to pay for all litigations" could number of negligence suits paradoxically rise, if the lawer is going to get his money anyway he will try more and more cases. |
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 14/6/2012 5:45 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1286
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 23/5/2013 |
Not sure what to make of this, but one thing sticks in my mind, The performance standard! IE- Auto mechanics must accomplish a repair, Electricians must wire a house, Police must make arrests, Etc. Lawyers too should be held to a performance standard, why should they be paid $15,000.00 to work on a case, and then accomplish nothing? Kind of stupid huh? DuaneF |
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 14/6/2012 7:12 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 959
First: 15/7/2011 Last: 21/5/2013 |
In Response to Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?: Not sure what to make of this, but one thing sticks in my mind, The performance standard! IE- Auto mechanics must accomplish a repair, Electricians must wire a house, Police must make arrests, Etc. Lawyers too should be held to a performance standard, why should they be paid $15,000.00 to work on a case, and then accomplish nothing? Kind of stupid huh? DuaneF Posted by DuaneF Hi Duane, it depends what you mean by accomplishing nothing. If some business is negligent which causes your child to suffer physical injury wouldn't you want to make sure no-one else gets hurt and get some compensation for any special care your child will need? Or if as a Police Officer someone makes up a claim that you assaulted them unneccesarily and it is hard for you to repudiate - just your word against theirs and the person has injuries - wouldn't you want a lawyer to fight your case because your reputation is on the line. If you are cleared would that be accomplishing nothing? |
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Re: No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
posted at 16/5/2013 4:34 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1
First: 16/5/2013 Last: 16/5/2013 |
I practised law in Western Australia for 20 years and certainly did not get rich on contingent fee work. See An Economic Analysis of the Contingent Fee in Personal-Injury Litigation, Murray L. Schwartz and Daniel J. B. Mitchell |
Forums » Open clinical » Medicolegal » No win no fee - is is just making lawyers richer?
