The Injuries Board (or the PIAB as it was known then) came into existence just over ten years which was when I finished my apprenticeship and qualified as a solicitor. Around that time there was a perception that the so-called ‘compensation culture’ had spun out of control and that claims fraud had reached epidemic levels. [...]
Personal Injury
What is the history of no-win-no-fee litigation?
Historically, the legal system in the countries throughout the developed world were established and developed in order to advance the interests of wealthy and powerful elites. However, as democracy emerged and civil rights movements began to become established, mechanisms began to be put in place which would allow the ordinary man or woman with a [...]
The Latest Threat to Freedom of Information
Freedom of information is an essential component in the balance between the rights of the individual and the State. When it was first introduced in Ireland in 1997 it was pretty revolutionary, and a huge leap out of the dark. Then in 2003 it was drastically curtailed, the detriment of the citizen (hint, that’s you [...]
Judges Step In to Protect the Rights of Accident Victims
For a while there it was all beginning to look very bleak indeed, as if they were going to secure their pernicious objective unimpeded. But thankfully the courts have finally begun to flex their muscles to ensure that big business doesn’t trample on the rights of the citizen. For over a decade now the insurance [...]
Phased Compensation Orders
Yesterday’s talk about compensation put me in mind of a recent very positive development in this area. Monetary awards are the only means we have for compensating individuals for injury or loss suffered by them. The courts have placed a cap on what will be awarded as general damages for pain and suffering. Therefore, there [...]
You may not always need a laywer BUT…
The story of Argos and the baby wipe last week got me thinking on a couple of levels. (Always dangerous!) It is easy to make a story about a man slipping on a baby wipe mildly amusing and the idea of a claim in those circumstances absurd. But slapstick is only funny when it happens [...]
No Win No Fee Explained
What do I need to know about no-win-no-fee advertising? If you type the expression ‘no-win-no-fee’ or ‘no-foal-no-fee’ into any search engine you’ll come across literally dozens of websites that are offering to represent accident victims in bringing claims for compensation for their injuries. This is despite the fact that the Law Society – which is [...]
Decision on Vicarious Liability Hits Employers Where it Hurts
Anyone who has seen Hans Moleman Productions’ beautifully crafted Man Getting Hit By Football will appreciate the primaeval hilarity of a guy taking a smack to the groin. That’s why the facts giving rise to a claim for damages in the case of Lynch v. Binnacle Limited appear, at first glance at least, quite comical. [...]
“NO WIN NO FEE” NO WAY!
“No win, no fee” (sometimes described as “no foal, no fee”) is the way most accident claims or medical negligence claims in Ireland are taken. The solicitors and the barristers are only paid if the case is successful. The flip side of this is that they will only take the case if they think it [...]
