Funding a Medical Negligence Claim

Conditional Fee Agreement

We handle most cases on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis through a document called a Conditional Fee Agreement.

Under a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement, if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be charged for any of the legal fees we have incurred on your behalf and we will not be paid anything for the work we have done.

To reflect the risk that we might not get paid for the legal work we do, if your claim is successful, we will deduct a success fee. This cannot be recovered from the Defendant and therefore will be deducted from your compensation. This is subject to a cap of 25% of your injury payment and past financial losses.

The ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement relates to the legal fees only. It is therefore advisable that you take out a policy of After the Event (ATE) insurance. This insurance will cover the expenses of investigating your claim (known as disbursements) if your claim is unsuccessful. You will only have to pay for the insurance premium if your case is successful and this will be deducted from your compensation.

Legal Expenses Insurance

You may already have legal expenses insurance attached to an existing policy of insurance, such as home and contents insurance. The policy would need to have been in place at the time of the alleged negligence. Our team of medical negligence specialists are able to liaise with the insurers to make the necessary enquiries on your behalf.

Legal Aid

Morrish Solicitors has a Clinical Negligence Legal Aid franchise which means we are one of a select group of law firms approved by the Legal Aid Agency to offer Legal Aid funding in certain clinical negligence claims.

We are able to assist with claims arising throughout England and Wales but have particularly extensive experience in pursuing birth injury claims against NHS Trusts in the Yorkshire region. We are proud to be the only firm with an office within the BD postcode to hold a Clinical Negligence Legal Aid franchise.

Legal Aid for clinical negligence claims is only available in very limited circumstances for:

• Claims where a child has suffered a severe brain injury during pregnancy/childbirth or within the first 8 weeks of life;
• Claims deemed to be ‘exceptional’ by the Director of Legal Aid Casework.

If you are eligible for Legal Aid, you will not have to pay anything towards your legal fees.

Our team of medical negligence specialists will support you through the process and make the application on your behalf.

Private Funding

In certain circumstances, we may carry out our initial investigations for you on a fixed fee and if the outcome is positive, we can then enter into a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement with you.