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.

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