Louise Howard Solicitors
Common Legal Inquiries
Find answers regarding costs, processes, and immediate steps to take following an unexpected event. If your specific query is not addressed below, please do not hesitate to contact our offices directly.
This is where a solicitor agrees not to charge their professional legal fees for the work they have carried out on your file unless your case is successful. It is most commonly used in personal injury claims.
In practical terms:
If you succeed in your case, the majority of your legal costs are paid by the other side.
If however you do not succeed, generally you do not pay your own solicitor’s professional fees for their work in the case if you have agreed to a no win no fee arrangement with them, however there are costs which you can be responsible for such as outlays and potentially the other side’s legal costs if you lose your case.
The no win no fee arrangement should be clearly explained in writing by your solicitor and at the beginning of legal proceedings. * Always bear in mind that in contentious business a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
If you have been involved in a road traffic accident here are some suggestions as to what you should do:
A person who has been involved in an accident, such as a car accident or workplace accident, can make an application for compensation to the Injuries Resolution Board. This is the first step for most personal injury claims before court proceedings can be issued. The process involves completing the Injuries Resolution Board application form, in that form you must set out the details of the accident, the injuries suffered, the party who you allege to be responsible and so on. You are also required to provide supporting documents such as a medical legal report. It is important that you are aware that this application must be made within two years of the date of the accident otherwise your case could be statute barred.
Once your application has been deemed as received and complete by the Injuries Resolution Board, the Board then notifies the other side of receipt of the application. The other side then have 90 days to indicate whether they consent to the board dealing with your case. If the other side consents then the board will proceed to assess your case. This process can take up to two years in total. During this time you will be required to attend medical appointments to meet with the boards medical experts. The board will never meet with you directly but rather they assess the level of compensation based on the medical legal reports before them and your out of pocket expenses. A claimant has a choice whether to accept or reject the boards assessment of compensation. If you accept the assessment and the other side accepts the assessment then you case comes to an end. If however you reject the assessment you are entitled to continue your case through the court process. We strongly recommended that you engage a solicitor from the beginning of your case.
Legally you do not have to engage a solicitor to represent you through the Injuries Resolution Board process. This is usually fine if your case is very straight forward and your injures and expenses are minor. However here are a few things to consider, it is strongly recommended that that you engage a solicitor if there is an issue in respect of liability. Basically liability means who is responsible for the accident or the injury. In some cases, this is not clear cut.
Abiding by the Time limits to bring a claim is especially important. If you fall outside of the statutory period, which is usually two years from the date of the accident, to submit your claim to the board your claim could be statute barred. Another issue to be aware of is if you do not name the correct defendant or defendants in the case, it may be too late by the time you become aware of this problem to fix it. A solicitor will ensure that all of your injuries and recoverable expenses are included in your claim. A solicitor has the expertise to deal with all of these issues for you and to protect your position.
It is important to be aware that the Injuries Resolution board will not provide you with legal advice. When the board assesses your case, it is usually in writing, you will not be given any legal assistance from the board as to whether to accept or reject the assessment. If you case is in any way complex the best advice is to contact a solicitor.
The usual statute of limitations period for a personal injury claim is 2 years from the date of the accident or the date the injured person first knew, or should reasonably have known, that they were injured and that the injury was connected to the accident. Most claims are first submitted to the Injuries Resolution Board before court proceedings can be issued.
There are some exceptions to the two year rule and it is important to speak with a solicitor to explain your specific circumstances.
In an accident case such as road traffic, workplace or an accident in a public place in order to stop the time from running out in your case you must submit a fully completed application form to the Injuries Resolution Board together with a medical report. If the application from is incomplete then the Injuries Resolution Board will not accept this and the time will continue to run until the Injuries Resolution Board deem your application as received and complete. It is not enough to simply notify the Injuries Resolution Board of your claim, there is a strict process that must be followed in order to stop the time from continuing to run.
Compensation is divided between general damages, which is for pain and suffering, and special damages which are expenses you have incurred such as medical expenses or lost wages. When it comes to the level of compensation awarded every case is different, every client is different and each person’s recovery is different. There is no one size fits all when it comes to compensation. Factors taken into account when assessing compensation are severity of the injury, whether you have substantially recovered, the level of interference with your daily life or work, and so on. Medical reports setting out the details of your injuries, treatment and when you are likely to recover will assist a solicitor in valuing a case.
Contributory negligence means that an injured person is found to have partly contributed to the accident. In simple terms, even if someone else was mainly at fault, the injured person may also have been partially at fault in some way. If so, a court can reduce the compensation amount by the percentage that the injured person is considered to be responsible. It does not usually stop a claim completely, but it can reduce the amount of compensation that a person may be entitled to in order to reflect their share of the blame.
The cost of engaging a solicitor generally depends on the complexity of the case and at what stage the case is completed. It is therefore difficult to give an exact estimate at the beginning of a case. However your solicitor will give you a detailed letter setting out how fees are calculated together with estimates of the other expenses or outlays at the outset. Depending on your arrangement usually you do not pay solicitor fees upfront but you may be required to pay for the outlays such as the cost of medical legal reports, stamp duty on court documents, law agent fees and so on.
A mediation is where an agreed mediator is appointed, this person will act as an independent person who helps both sides in a case reach an agreement. The mediator does not make a decision. A case only settles at mediation if both sides agree to the terms. It is a voluntary and confidential process. Mediation is encouraged by the courts particularly in medical negligence cases as it minimises costs, saves time and avoids the parties having to attend a hearing of the case.
If you were involved in an accident and the driver who caused the accident was uninsured you can bring a claim for compensation against the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland. It is key that you report the accident to the Gardai as soon as possible and notify Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland without delay. It is strongly recommended that in these types of cases that you consult a solicitor as soon as possible to handle your personal injury claim.
Medical negligence or clinical negligence is a term used to describe a situation where a person suffers an injury as a result of an error made by a medical practitioner/professional. Most medical professionals are careful and practice to the highest of standards. However mistakes occur and injury or death can happen as a result of an error during surgery, misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis, improper treatment, birth injuries or dental injuries, for example. In order to establish if you have a claim you should seek the assistance of a solicitor with experience in this area. A solicitor will listen to you and your story and then investigate whether there is a case to be answered. This involves taking steps such as obtaining your medical records and arranging for an independent expert to review those records and provide an opinion on whether the care you received fell below an acceptable standard and whether the injury could have been avoided.
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