Personal Injury, Wills, Probate and Family Law, West Midlands Forum Law

Personal injury update Autumn 2010

2011-06-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to provide a link to the first of the Forum Law personal injury update newsletter, our regular updates will keep you up to date with successful personal injury cases.

Government cuts will they affect the Police staffing safety?

2011-04-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Safe staffing for the police service will emerge as a significant issue for the Government. The planned cuts will mean a reduction in safety that will jeopardise modern policing. I have produced a legal guide which should help all those interested in the law on this subject.

To view the guide click here...

Should you make a will?

2010-10-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the mantra, “you should make a will”, yet surprisingly, a staggering 60% of adults in England and Wales die without one.

Over the years I have heard countless reasons for why people do not make wills. The most common being:

“I have not got anything to leave”
“I’m afraid that if I make one, I’ll tempt fate”
“I just never got round to making one”
“It’s too expensive.”

“Will it be your “will” or the “will” of the Government who decides who benefits from your estate?”

To read the full article please click here...

Have you made a Will with a Will Writing Company?

2010-08-25T04:33:00.000-07:00

Is your Will Valid?

The recent BBC Panorama programme examined Will Writing Companies and how they conduct their business.

The programme found the following:

1. That unlike solicitors many Will Writing companies are not regulated and do not have insurance and cannot make good to your estate any loss if the will has been drafted incorrectly;

2. That if you appoint a Will Writing company to be the Executors of your estate that you may incur additional legal fees for this service

3. That if the Will Writing company ceases to exist that the chances of finding them and in some cases your original will is practically reduced to nil, unlike with a firm of solicitors who can be traced through the Law Society.

At Forum Law, our team headed by our Cheryl McSheen-Bailey a Solicitor and Barrister (non-practising) have considerable experience in advising on Wills that have been badly written or in some cases where the wills are not even valid. We have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences that face the family in these situations.

If you have made a will with a Will Writing Company and need peace of mind please contact our dedicated and professional team at Forum Law without delay on 0844 335 8456 or by email at cheryl@forumlaw.co.uk.

Personal injury update Autumn 2010

2010-08-05T10:55:00.001-07:00

We are pleased to provide a link to the first of the Forum Law personal injury update newsletter, our regular updates will keep you up to date with successful personal injury cases.

What consumers want from the new legal market?

2010-07-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

Jeff Zindani Principal of Forum Law was asked to take part in a video podcast discussing what consumers want from the new legal market place?

Public Cuts and Emergency Service Workers

2010-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Daily Telegraph's headline today of anticipated big cuts in police numbers is the precursor to a fierce debate that will rage over the next few months over the effect cuts will have upon emergency service workers. You can read the article on-line by clicking here...

Putting aside the poltics, this Government may not fully appreciate that services in this sector are underpinned by health and safety requirements emanating from Europe.

The issue facing trade unions and professional associtations is ensuring safe staffing levels. Cuts may lead to police officers, nurses and firecrews saying that the poor staffing levels are dangerous. Legal challenges are invetable and whilst this may be good for lawyers this will cause unrest and poor morale.

Let's hope any cuts in this sector will be carefully thought through and will take account of emergency service workers interests.

Personal injury update summer 2010

2010-06-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to provide a link to the first of the Forum Law personal injury update newsletter, our regular updates will keep you up to date with successful personal injury cases.

The Hidden Benefits of a Package Holiday

2010-06-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Every year thousands of holiday makers will look to escape the unpredictable British summer and go abroad during their summer break. As holiday makers become more consumer savvy, less and less are turning to travel agents for help and instead are taking the time to organise their holiday arrangements themselves. With the ability to customise their own holiday package through internet sites specifically built for this reason, holiday makers are shunning the old package holidays in a hope that their custom built holiday will save them a quick buck, but at what cost?

It is an unfortunate occurrence that whilst on holiday, due to navigating unknown places and participating in activities that one would not whilst at home, many holiday makers do suffer injuries abroad. Whilst most recieve the medical attention they need when abroad, it is on their return to the UK that they start to face difficulties when they attempt to claim compensation for: their injuries, the loss of enjoyment of their holiday and reinstatement of their out of pocket expenses, including their foreign medical fees.

For those holiday makers who purchased their holiday as a ‘package', a combination of at least 2 of these aspects: accommodation, travel, and or another tourist service, their claim can be dealt with relatively easily by most UK trained solicitors. For instance in Djengiz v Thompson Holidays Ltd [2000] the Claimant brought an action for damages against Thompson Holidays with whom he had booked a package holiday to the Dominican Republic. The holiday brochure promised a programme of activities that would form part of the package. One such activity was a beach volleyball game organised by the resort staff. Unfortunately the volleyball pitch was just an area of concrete with a thin covering of sand and when the Claimant jumped for a ball, he landed on his side and suffered severe personal injuries. The judge held that as the volley ball game was organised by entertainment staff and was importantly part of the entertainment promised in the brochure at the time of buying the package holiday, the activity consisted part of the package. Thompsons were therefore held responsible for the Claimant's safety during the game and were held to be liable for failing to warn the Claimant of the danger posed by the hard concrete base.

When a client has purchased a package holiday their solicitor can rely on the Package Travel Regulations 1992, Regulation 15, which requires a breach of an implied term, usually the failure of the service provider to act with reasonable care and skill. If such a breach can be proven then the solicitor is able to bring the claim through UK jurisdiction and issue the case at a court in the Claimant's country, if an out of court settlement cannot be reached. In example of such a claim is Hammond v Mark Warner Ltd [2008] which involved a Claimant and her family travelling to Greece on a package holiday that included accommodation at the Lemons Summer Beach Resort. One of the hotel staff at the resort hosed down a terracotta tiled slope on site and failed to warn any residents of the wet area. The Claimant slipped on the wet surface and suffered a personal injury. The tour operator was held responsible for the contractual failings of the hotel staff who had failed to warn the Claimant of the wet surface.

For holiday makers who suffer injury whilst on their custom built holiday and have travelled outside the EU, having booked the travel and accommodation separately, they will have difficulty in finding a solicitor in the UK willing to deal with their claim. As the solicitor will not be able to rely on the Package Travel Regulations any claim for personal injury, and associate losses, must be made in the country where the Claimant suffered their injury. The claim will be covered under foreign jurisdiction and law, which can be very different to the law UK solicitors have experience of. If the case proceeded to court it is more than likely that the Claimant themselves will have to return to the foreign country to give evidence to aid court investigations. Any compensation received will also be based on the standard of quantification of the foreign country, which is likely to be significantly lower than the standard here in the UK which has a very generous level of quantification compared to most other countries.

In any event, if holiday makers are unfortunate enough to suffer injury abroad the most important thing to remember is to collect as much evidence as possible; witness details, accident reports, hospital notes, photos etc. which will help establish liability in a claim once you are back within the UK. Without this necessary evidence your solicitor will find it hard to prove liability which is likely to have to be proven against the local health and safety law, when they are unable to carry out their own liability investigations, being situated not in the country where the accident occurred. In Bunce v Travelworld Vacations Ltd [2008] the Claimant travelled to Cyprus with her husband on a package holiday and whist in the restaurant of the hotel the Claimant slipped on a spillage on the floor. The judge ruled in favour of the Defendant as the Claimant had failed to adduce any evidence as to the local standard, by which the hotel should be judged. The failure of this case proves the importance of gathering all available evidence at the time of the accident to help your solicitor prove your case to the standard of care required.

If anyone does suffer an injury abroad and would like further information on pursuing a claim please contact Jessica Veasey of Forum Law Solicitors who specialises in international claims, 0121 506 8185 or enquiries@forumlaw.co.uk.

Have you been affected by the volcanic ash travel chaos?

2010-04-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Today our very own Jeff Zindani is quoted on the fornt page of The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Legal analysis suggests that there may be a raft of class actions brought by airlines and companies that are dependent on air travel to move their goods. This may well open the way for wider litigation against the Met Office and other government agencies who are found to have failed in their duty of care. The damages and legal costs could break the £1 billion mark."

To read what Jeff had to say and further articles click on the links below:

Volcanic ash cloud: Travellers, businesses and airlines 'could sue' over flights chaos.

Volcanic ash cloud: Met Office blamed for unnecessary six-day closure.

If you are one of the 150,000 Britons who are thought to be stranded abroad, it is important to know what rights you have and what rights you do not. If you are prevented from travelling home, your carrier (the company who have sold you your ticket) has obligations to you. The specific obligations owed by air carriers can be found here.

Do not think that because you are delayed, your travel insurance will necessarily pick up the cost of your extra expenses. A typical policy has a clause which reads similarly to the following: 'We shall not pay for any claims arising from the withdrawal from service temporarily or otherwise of the aircraft on the orders or recommendation of the Civil Aviation Authority or a similar body in any country'. Whilst it could be argued that this relates to the withdrawal of a specific aircraft on safety reasons, and that it would not apply in the current circumstances since the current restrictions have been imposed by the air traffic safety authorities, rather than the CAA, the insurers will surely argue both points strongly.

If you would like to discuss your case further with one of our dedicated travel litigation team please contact us on our travel advice hotline 0844 335 8456.

Personal injury update spring 2010

2010-03-10T04:19:00.001-08:00

We are pleased to provide a link to the first of the Forum Law personal injury update newsletter, our regular updates will keep you up to date with successful personal injury cases.

Consumers to watch out for claim companies that promise cash for claims

2010-02-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

I couldn’t resist covering more on Jackson, as the two sides battle it over the key recommendations. Not quite the cold war but more of a type of war dance with quaint and a rather elaborate prose being used to justify their respective positions.

A claimant lawyer, who I think may have been watching too many John Wayne films, states in this week’s Law Society Gazette that: “Access to justice and the overriding objective is primarily about protecting the weak and vulnerable against the strong and powerful, and the individual against the corporation. We need to remember that the claimant victim is likely to be the good guy and that the bad guy is represented by the defendant insurers. We fail to remember that at our peril”

Not quite High Noon but we get the point. It’s a pity that consumers don’t quite see it the way lawyers do and someone has to pick up the tab. I thought the bad guys were the claims management industry but maybe I’ve got that wrong as well. Maybe the good guys are after all those companies who sell cases to lawyers who in turn fight the good fight? I don’t think so in the commoditised world of personal injury.

Even the Claims Standards Council, which represents many leading claims management companies, has warned consumers to watch out for claim companies that promise cash for claims. It shows once again that these companies cannot be regulated and the ban on referral fees would do the trick in closing them down. Jackson has got it right and if consumers knew more about how their cases were trafficked there would be a public uproar. Some of the big names who are clamoring for more work in the new deregulated legal world might find that their brands take a knock if they are “outed”. There should be a database for companies receiving referral fees. Perhaps, APIL could look at that so we could see the real champions of the weak and vulnerable.

Jeff Zindani LLB MA Solicitor Managing Director

The Jackson Report- A Judge with Bottle

2010-02-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

I feel like a real outsider because having read the report from Lord Justice Jackson most, if not, all his recommendations make sense to me. I even felt vindicated because I took a case to the Court of Appeal over a year ago which I lost, called Carver v BAA, which Jackson said was wrongly decided. It's a pity that his fellow Lord Justice's of Appeal took a different view but that’s life in the world of litigation.

With the publication of the Jackson report, we had the same story in the legal world of big law firms and organisations who have vested interests in the current system carping on about the interests of justice when they have made a fortune over the past few years for personal injury litigation.

There's no love lost between me and the insurance industry but the current system is just stupid. One thing you cannot criticise Jackson for is courage -courage in attacking the very sacred cows in this industry. His recommendation to ban referral fees could close down all those parasitic claims management companies, who do very little but charge solicitors for personal injury claims. I'm not saying all claims management companies are bad per se but you do not need to be very clever at linking the rising level of fraud with some of their dubious marketing practices. I remember reading that fantastic Robert Harris book on the life of Cicero and thinking that even the Romans would not have put up with selling their citizens cases to lawyers.

Only the other day, we received a call from a company who wanted to sell us cases from a taxi company as long as we paid them £500 pounds and gave the clients £200 up front! Let's close these companies down and get lawyers working for their clients best interests. Let's also listen to what Jackson has to say and look at what's in the best interests of consumers as a whole rather than what we can gain for our own practices.