Issues with Personal Injury Lawyers

We often hear from Clients that they prefer to instruct us because of the fact that we are an independent firm of Solicitors and they can meet with us face to face.

However, there are a good number of people who are persuaded by their insurance company to use their preferred Solicitor and are then passed through to a claims handler whom they will never meet.

The issue here is about choice. Everyone has freedom of choice to instruct whoever they want to and no one should ever feel pressurised into making a choice that they do not feel comfortable with.

What if the relationship turns sour?

Sometimes however, unforeseen problems can arise, resulting in an individual regretting the choice that they made. Questions may be asked such as:-

• What can I do?
• Is it possible to cancel and transfer to a different law firm?
• Will there be a cost to me if I terminate my contract with this law firm?

With most claims for personal injury, it is highly likely that you will have entered into a ‘no win no fee’ agreement with your law firm.

The terms of the agreement are such that if you choose to withdraw or terminate the agreement, you may find yourself responsible for paying your law firm’s costs.

However, if you transfer your claim to a different law firm, we can contact your old firm and reassure them that their costs will be preserved. In essence, if the claim is successful, you receive your compensation and our legal costs will be split between both ourselves and your old law firm. If the claim fails, both ourselves and your old law firm have to write off our costs in accordance with the ‘no win no fee’ agreement.

In summary

Therefore, in answer to the above questions, there is definitely something you can do if you are unhappy with your law firm. Yes you can cancel the agreement and transfer your claim to a different law firm. You would not have to start again from the beginning, we would simply request your file of papers from your old firm and take over from where they left off.

Finally, whilst you may expose yourself to having to pay your old law firm’s costs if you terminate, in reality if you then transfer to a different law firm, we will preserve their costs and so you will not have to pay them.

There is certainly nothing stopping someone from transferring a claim to a different law firm.

At Poole Alcock Solicitors, we are happy to talk to people about their claims, even when they have instructed someone else. If we can help, we would love to. Use our contact form to get in touch.