The government’s latest proposals to control civil litigation costs, which should temper spiralling legal costs in medical negligence cases, have been welcomed by defence bodies.
The MDU welcomed a Ministry of Justice consultation which, like the report by Lord Justice Jackson earlier this year, proposes measures aimed at reducing the disproportionate costs of civil litigation for the defendant.
Costs of settling clinical negligence claims have spiralled in the last 30 years with the average claimant’s legal costs increasing by three times the rate of inflation since 1981.
The key recommendation is that, under a reformed conditional fee agreement (CFA) regime, success fees and after the event (ATE) insurance premiums should no longer be recoverable from the losing side. Lord Justice Jackson suggested that abolishing recoverability of CFA success fees and ATE insurance premiums would ensure that claimants on CFAs take an interest in the costs being incurred on their behalf.
“Justice is not just about allowing claimants to bring reasonable actions,” he said. “But also about ensuring that defendants can resist those claims which should not succeed, without being liable for disproportionate costs.”
Figures show that, in 2010, the average claimant’s costs paid by the MDU on behalf of its members was £44,500, 34 times higher than the figure in 1981 of just £1,300. The average annual increase in claimants’ legal costs over the last 30 years was 13% compared with an average increase in the Retail Price Index of just 4%.
Dr Christine Tomkins, MDU chief executive, said: “We are pleased that the government is proposing to take forward many of the proposals recommended by Lord Justice Jackson. If implemented, we believe the changes will make the civil litigation procedure fairer, making costs paid to claimants’ solicitors more proportionate to the damages claimants’ receive, without impairing claimants’ access to justice.
“We have long argued that the current situation, where claimants’ legal costs can be as much as thirty times the compensation awarded to the damaged patient, impugns the system and is very unfair to doctors and dentists who are currently funding these legal costs.”
In one MDU case, for example, a claim for delayed treatment of a wound infection on a patient’s leg was settled for £1,000 damages paid to the claimant patient. The claimant’s lawyer’s costs were £29,000 which included a success fee of £7,500 and an after the event insurance premium of £2,940. MDU costs as defendant were minimal.
Read the consultation in full.
Tags: Negligence claim
