REFERRAL FEES BAN REGULATORY NOT CRIMINAL OFFENCE

Further to the recent announcement that referral fees for Personal Injury cases are to be banned, Justice Minister Jonathan Djangoly has confirmed that flouting the ban will not be a criminal offence, but will be enforced by the legal profession’s regulators instead. He commented that the Ministry of Justice has “veered away from a criminal offence”, which is a “very blunt instrument”.

A criminal offence would have to be proven beyond reasonable doubt and “it would be very difficult for a jury to convict on the basis of the complexity of these arrangements”, Mr Djanogly said. By contrast a regulatory offence which would be enforced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and others would ensure that “the principle of what’s happening can be looked at… and a view taken”.

In other news, Mr Djangoly has been stripped of his role as regulator of claims management companies following the discovery of a conflict of interest – his two children were discovered to own shares in claims management companies run by his brother in law.

Dowler family join the fight against no win no fee reforms

In a letter to PM David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg, the family of Milly Dowler has urged them to block ‘unjust and unfair’ civil justice reforms which would ‘significantly weaken’ the ‘no win no fee’ system they have used to pursue a case against News International. The company has just agreed a £3m settlement with the family over claims that Milly’s phone was hacked after her disappearance in 2002.
In the letter, the Dowlers said : “We were lucky that we fell under the [current] system. We understand that the new law affects thousands of people who want to sue the News of the World and other newspapers…..We are sure you don’t want to go down as the prime minister who took the rights away from ordinary people so that large companies could print whatever they like and break the law.”
The letter refers to reforms under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill, which will receive its third reading in the Commons soon, and was welcomed by the Law Society. Chief Executive Desmond Hudson, commented: ‘After all they have been through we welcome – and are humbled by – the intervention of the Dowler family in this debate. They have succeeded in making it clear to the prime minister that it is ordinary families with terrible life challenges that will be impacted the most. They will be the losers. As a society we need to protect them and their access to justice.”
Lawson-West is supporting the Law Society’s Sound off for Justice campaign against the reforms. For more information on no win no fee accident claims please contact Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.

Employees lack company health and safety knowledge

A survey of more than 1,500 workers saw three-quarters admit to being unaware of safety procedures within their workplaces.

The survey, by website personalinjurylawyers.co.uk, found that 73% of workers were totally unaware of health and safety procedures, and nearly half claimed they had never seen any written documentation about safety procedures, despite working in a business with five or more employees. Only 6% of those taking part felt they were “very knowledgeable” about their organisation’s health and safety procedures.

20% of the employees questioned knew their organisation’s fire safety procedures while less than one third knew who the business’s “health and safety manager” was. Furthermore, only a quarter claimed to know where their workplace first-aid kit was located.

A positive approach to Health & Safety within a firm can make a huge difference towards reducing workplace accidents. Statistics like these show how much more still needs to be done within many organisations.

Pothole damage racks up after two cold winters

Two harsh winters in a row have taken their toll on Britain’s roads, with a new report by the Labour Party’s Transport Team estimating some £13 billion of damage has been done. The report has raised concerns about the safety of motorcyclists and motorists, since budget cuts mean that pothole repairs are not being carried out.

The survey, of 152 local authorities, found that some 40 per cent of councils had a backlog of pothole repairs, totalling over £5 billion. 92% of the councils also said they didn’t have the funds needed to fix the roads in their area, with three quarters of councils cutting their road maintenance budgets.

And, in some cases potholes are being reinvented – Lambeth Council, for example, has changed the measurement criteria for pothole maintenance. A pothole now refers to a hole more than 40mm deep, where previously it was 25mm.

Fine after accident at the fair

A fairground operator has been fined £10,000 after an 11-year-old girl suffered a serious head wound when she was thrown from a ride at a West Midlands park.

The lap bar on the ride failed, and the girl had not been able to put on a lap belt as a secondary measure. As a result of being thrown from the moving ride she suffered a head wound which required ten stitches, as well as multiple cuts and bruises.

The HSE investigation into the incident discovered that the lap belts in the ride cars had been poorly maintained and most were in such a poor state of repair that they were unusable.

If you have been injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, please contact Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.

Council fined as employee suffers loss of movement in hands

The Health & Safety Executive recently prosecuted a local authority after a maintenance worker suffered a permanent loss of movement to his hands, as a result of hand arm vibration syndrome.

The worker began work for Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council as a mechanic in 1984. His job regularly involved use of heavy-duty vibrating equipment, including pneumatic drills and hand-held grinders.

The council, which became part of Cheshire East Council in April 2009, first identified the early stages of the worker’s condition in mid- 2005 at which stage annual assessments were recommended. However following a reassessment in 2006, he was not seen again until 2009.

The worker in question has difficulty picking up small objects, and his hands become very painful in cold weather. The Council was fined £5,300 and ordered to pay £5,860 towards the cost of the prosecution, as a result of its failure to take any significant action to stop the workers’ condition getting worse.

Nearly two million people in the UK work in conditions which put them at risk of developing hand-arm vibration syndrome.

INCREASE IN SLIP ACCIDENTS AMONG LOCAL SHOPPERS

Lawson-West has seen an increase in the number of slip, trip and fall accidents recently, and are currently advising a number of clients who have all been injured in a fall at a local shopping centre.

Slipping accidents can lead to a number of injuries, some of which may require prolonged treatment to overcome. If you have been injured as a result of a slip in a shopping centre, or in any area leading to or from the centre or its car park, you may have a claim for compensation.

Owners of shops and shopping centres have a duty to ensure that shoppers are safe when on their premises, and are not at risk of foreseeable injury. They must have an inspection system to identify potential hazards, and a maintenance programme to remove obstacles and hazards such as slippery floors. Click here for more information.

Pub Chain fined over asbestos

The large UK pub operator Mitchells & Butlers has been fined £14,000 under the Health and Safety at Work Act for exposing workers to asbestos during the refurbishment of a pub in Darlington.
The Health & Safety Executive investigation discovered that the company had originally commissioned a survey to check for asbestos, but the survey was restricted to the areas where the proposed refurbishment was to take place. However, the refurbishment plans were changed at a later date to include a kitchen area that had not been part of the original survey.
The ceiling tiles in the kitchen contained asbestos so that when the workers drilled into them to prepare for new electrics and plumbing, they were covered with dust and debris which could have exposed them to asbestos fibres.
Asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK, with an estimated 4,000 people dying every year. If you have been exposed to asbestos at work, please contact Vicky Jones on 0116 212 1000.

DEBRIS IN CITY CENTRE STORE CAUSES ACCIDENT

Our client was in a city centre store when she tripped over some debris that had been left near the escalator, and fell onto the floor. There was a man maintaining the escalator, but no warning signs had been put up.

As a result of the accident our client sustained a cut to her finger, soft tissue injuries to both knees, pain across her shoulder blades and back and soft tissue bruising to her body. Lawson-West began a personal injury claim. The accident was the fault of shop our client was in, under the Occupier’s Liability Act because they:

a.       Caused or permitted the hazardous debris to be present on the surface of the floor; therefore allowing the floor to become a tripping hazard;

b.      Failed to take any, or any adequate, measures to ensure that the surface of the floor did not have upon it items likely to cause tripping accidents;

c.       Failed by means of signs, notices, barriers or otherwise to warn visitors of the existence and location of the debris; and allowed visitors to use this area of the floor when it was unsafe to do so.

Lawson-West recovered compensation of £2700 for our client’s injuries sustained as a result of the accident.

Accident claim found to be fraudulent after video footage

A taxi driver in London has pleaded guilty recently to being in contempt of court after he claimed, falsely, that he had been forced into early retirement due to an accident.

Insurance firm Aviva applied to have the driver jailed for contempt at the High Court before withdrawing its application to have him sent to prison as he was seriously ill. Aviva suggested the case broke new ground and should be taken as a warning to anyone contemplating taking fraudulent action, that they could end up in jail if they lied when claiming compensation for road traffic accidents via a claims management company.

Aviva originally offered to settle Mr Seabrook’s claim by paying him £17,500, but the offer of compensation was withdrawn after surveillance footage taken by an Aviva- hired private investigator emerged. The footage showed the man continuing to work after the accident he claimed had forced him to retire.

The taxi driver admitted his claim was fraudulent after he was shown the video evidence.