What do you guys think; should advertising “no win, no fee” guarantees be banned?

Seems pretty extreme but it is a view which has been taken in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia!

The so called ‘ambulance chasers’ have been banned from advertising their services and it is a ban that Attorney-General John Hatzistergos is campaigning to have blanketed across Australia.
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The CICA (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) payout compensation to the victims of premeditated assaults and attacks construed as criminal activity.

The CICA as a government related body are strict on the cases they payout for. The BBC have reported of a rather unique case where the judge has awarded favour to the toddler who was attacked by another three year old boy whilst alone in a car (source).

Jay Jones was hit 11 times with a car jack by another three year old boy whilst they were alone in a car, resulting in the boy requiring stitches from a gash on the head and a visit to the nearby hospital for treatment following the attack in 2007.
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Maclaren have moved to provide new safety kits for their pushchairs after parents indicated their concerns that children were suffering injuries trapping their fingers in the hinges.

According to the BBC, the company had originally stated that despite issuing the kits in the US, they would not be following suit with a UK equivalent.  However, now the covers, which will be free, will be sent out to parents who request them.

Maclaren’s original decision was based on the fact that the number of injuries suffered in the UK was considerably lower than in the US.
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Two firemen killed by a blast at a fireworks depot might not have died if they had received relevant training, a jury has heard.

According to the BBC, firemen Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge died in an explosion at a farm in East Sussex in December 2006. The argument that the training received by the fire-fighters was insufficient was put forward by the defence lawyer for Alpha Fireworks boss Martin Winter and his son Nathan, both of whom denied the charge of manslaughter at Lewes Crown Court.
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Medical negligence legal cases can range from procedural errors causing minor suffering to very severe (sadly, even fatal) outcomes. It’s the reason why all health staff are required to be proficiently trained to prevent mistakes from occurring.

And you wouldn’t think that a comparatively straight forward dental procedure could lead to a £2.5m law suit …
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Personal injury claims aren’t just about victims of accidents arising from negligence recovering the compensation they are entitled to for physical injuries sustained. In fact, there are more often than not psychological “injuries” sustained that can be included as part of the claim.

A big example is road traffic accidents. Past cases have shown that a lot of the victims we have represented have suffered psychologically as a result of the accident. Many people involved in a car accident suffer from initial shock and travel anxiety thereafter; these are elements taken in to account when it comes to valuating a claim for compensation.
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The Highways Agency has come in for criticism and faces legal action for failing in its obligations to road users in Cornwall. Although the Agency closed the A30 road between Devon and Cornwall following sheet ice in January of this year, but not before 40 accidents has already occurred.

The allegations put forward are that the Highways Agency, in failing to identify that the particular stretch of road would become dangerous at an earlier stage, fell below the standards expected of it to keep roads clear as much as reasonably practicable. This involves keeping roads free of snow and ice in so much as they might avoid endangering the safety of users or, alternately, acting to minimise the risk through actions such as closing the section of road.
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Ever heard of it? Its legalisation in place as the guidelines for legal disputes involving products and services sold. And it’s very important!

It covers everything from the liability a manufacturer of a product has to the consumer, to the liability a tradesman has for a service he/she provides. When it comes to personal injury, it is important when establishing liability if a person is injured as result of a defective product or a dodgy service for example.
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I was recently at Hull fair a few weeks ago (it travels around the country, and was recently in Nottingham as Goose Fair) and it got me thinking about the strict health and safety legislation operators and ride manufacturers must adhere to.

I think it would be hard to find anyone who isn’t a fan of amusement parks and fairground rides. There are of course some of us (myself included) who are a little more inclined to the bigger and scarier rides to quench a thrill seeking thirst!

So it probably goes without saying that all rides (in particular the big ones!) are put through stringent health and safety checks to ensure nothing can go wrong. And there have been stories recently and in the past whereby negligence has resulted in ride users being seriously injured, or worse. Not to put anyone off the big ones of course!
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So how does it work? How do we know as expert personal injury solicitors know how much your claim for compensation is worth?

In the majority of personal injury cases, a medical examination (at no cost to the claimant of course!) is arranged for a specialist consultant to examine the injured victim and produce an in depth medical report detailing the accident and the injuries to the claimant.
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