Changes to no win, no fee legal arrangements defeat fundamental legal principles, according to an expert at Swindon-based law firm Withy King.
Plans were revealed earlier this week, by way of a public consultation, which will see some legal fees in civil cases deducted from damages awarded to the claimant, rather than being charged entirely to the defendant.
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said that the no win, no fee arrangements were being altered to ease the burden on businesses and the NHS.
But Paul Rumley, clinical negligence partner at Withy King, said the proposals would deny claimants the right to all of their compensation.
He said: “The ordinary person is going to have to pay for these changes using funds from the compensation they have been awarded. In the case of victims of clinical negligence or personal injury, this compensation is meant to help improve the person’s quality of life by providing round the clock nursing care or other support they may require.
“So to add insult to injury, someone with a successful claim will have to pay for the privilege of receiving compensation.
“This money is then not going to be enough to compensate them. It defeats the long-held common law principle that you are entitled to receive compensation in money to put you back in the situation you would have been but for the negligence that injured you.
“It is also very disappointing that, having consulted with the legal profession and other bodies which actually have practical experience of this system, none of the constructive alternative suggestions to this that were put forward in the public consultation.
“Now is the time for the general public, who will be directly affected by these changes, to make their feelings known that we as voters would prefer to see the current Government focussing their full efforts upon the very pressing issues of the country’s economy including the budget deficit and cuts, rather than this issue which featured in none of the coalition parties’ manifestos.”
