11 year old
Milly Evans was awarded just under £11m in one of the biggest settlements for
Medical Negligence. She suffered catastrophic brain damage due to inadequate
monitoring of her heart rate during labour. Whilst £11m sounds like a lot of
money this will be needed to cover the cost of her care for life.
As a result
of recent government attacks on Legal Aid cases like this will be extremely
difficult to investigate and pursue. It is inevitable that fewer victims will
be able to obtain justice.
A few weeks
ago I wrote about good news for asbestos victims following what is known as
trigger litigation –
The
majority of those seeking justice for asbestos illnesses pursue their cases on
a no win no fee basis. And many would find it impossible to pursue in any other
way especially in the absence of legal aid. The government have agreed to delay
bringing in dramatic restrictions on these agreements for mesothelioma victims.
But they haven’t gone away and the restrictions, which could see victims
deprived of up to 25% of their damages will still apply in all other work
related health cases.
Many of us
are following the Leveson inquiry and the alarming revelations about phone
hacking. This scandal came to the fore following news that murder victim Milly
Dowler’s phone had been hacked. Her
family successfully sued News International with the help of a no Win No Fee
agreement. The family went on record to say that they could not have pursued
the case otherwise –
These cuts
are said to be part of a drive to eliminate ‘spurious’ claims. There is nothing
spurious about any of these cases. These are ordinary people seeking justice
normally against those who are more wealthy and powerful.
In thirty
years this is the most aggressive attack on the rights of ordinary people that
I have ever known. Most of the cuts have now passed through parliament – some
by the skin of their teeth.
But this
does not mean that all those committed to justice should not keep on reminding those in power that this is not
acceptable and must change.
No comments:
Post a Comment