Access to Justice in lower value clinical negligence claims

Abstract

In May 2009 Lord Justice Jackson published his Preliminary Report into the costs of civil litigation. His objective focuses on promoting access to justice at proportionate cost. Unsurprisingly, Claimants' costs in personal injury and clinical negligence claims are under the spotlight, principally, it seems, because of concern that the recovery of success fees and After The Event (ATE) insurance premiums is rendering Claimants' costs disproportionate to the damages recovered. This article will:

Review the existing Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) and ATE insurance funding landscape for clinical negligence claims worth less than £60,000;

Explore the potential impact on access to justice for Claimants if partial costs shifting is introduced;

Suggest some alternative ways of controlling costs.