All aspects of Blake Lapthorn were good, would recommend. A big thank you to David and his team!

Mr Cartwright

Clinical negligence FAQs

• Q.How long will it take to bring a claim?

  How long it takes to resolve a claim depends on the complexity of the case and whether it is contested or not.
  
  The first step will be to apply for medical records and the medical practitioner has 40 days to provide these records. The next step will be to obtain expert evidence which can take anything from a few weeks to a few months.
  
  We will then prepare the Letter of Claim setting out the allegations. The Defendant will have four months to investigate the claim and provide a Letter of Response. Further action is then dependent upon the response of the Defendant. If liability is admitted, a settlement can often be negotiated promptly.
  
  If liability is denied, Court proceedings will have to be issued. If proceedings are issued, a case will on average take between 18 months and two years to conclude.
  
  

• Q.How much is it going to cost me to bring a claim?

  It will not usually cost you anything to bring a claim for clinical negligence. We will discuss the three main funding options with you at the outset:
  
  Legal Aid - This is only available if you satisfy certain financial criteria and the case satisfies the tests for merits and public benefit.  Legal Aid is also known as public funding. It will not ordinarily cost you anything to bring a claim funded by legal aid, but specialist advice is needed because a statutory charge applies over damages and costs obtained until the Legal Services Commission has been repaid for its outlays at the end of the case.
  
  Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) – This is the most commonly used form of funding and is often referred to as ‘no win no fee’. As the name suggests, if you lose, we will waive any costs that we have incurred. If you win, we will reclaim our costs from the Defendant separately to any compensation you receive. You will not therefore have to pay anything if your claim is run on a CFA.
  
  Legal expenses insurance – You may have a Legal Expense Policy as part of a household/home contents insurance policy which may indemnify your claim. If your claim is funded this way, your legal expenses insurer will be responsible for any legal expenses incurred up to a fixed limit.
  
  

• Q.How much compensation will I get?

  Compensation is made up of what is known as general damages (damages for pain and suffering) and special damages (financial losses and expenses). There are Court guidelines and previous case law which form the basis on which general damages are calculated for each case depending upon the type and nature of the injuries sustained. Special damages vary with individual's circumstances in each case and are divided in to past and future losses.
  
  Where there is no recovery from an injury the future losses can be life long. It is therefore often not possible to give you a precise indication of value at the outset of the case. Our experts will advise and guide you so that you have as much information as possible to make important decisions.