What is a personal injury Lawyer?

A personal injury lawyer is someone who represents an individual who has claimed to be harmed, physically or mentally, as a result of the actions of a company or another person.

There is always much confusion about how personal injury law works. There are often press stories about everyday items being excluded on ‘health & safety grounds’ – take conkers in the schoolyard for example.

To clarify a personal injury incident, which this type of law covers – the injury sustained by the individual has to be the result of negligence, not just an accident. An accident is an incident that no one could have reasonably foreseen and for which no one should be held responsible. Whereas negligence is defined as something, which you can reasonably foresee, will injure someone else who is likely to be affected by your actions or lack of actions.

Although personal injury lawyers are trained and licensed to practice virtually any field of law, they tend to be experts in tort law. Tort law is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. They tend to provide a service, which deals with; work injuries, automobile and other accidents, defective products, medical mistakes, slips and fall, accidents and many more. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for developing the law on tort and damages in England and Wales through legislative and procedural change. They represent the United Kingdom in European and international negotiations relating to these issues.

As well as general legal responsibilities, a personal injury lawyer would interview prospective clients and evaluate their cases to determine the legal issue. They would identify and research the features of the issue to build a strong case. The main objective is to ensure that the person injured or harmed in some way, obtains justice and compensation for their suffering.

There are strict standards of legal ethics, which Personal Injury Lawyers must adhere to when dealing with their clients. At a very basic level this includes; exercising competence and a duty of loyalty and confidentiality to work in their client’s best interest.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), a not-for-profit organisation, whose head office is in Nottingham, was set up over 20 years ago to fight for the rights of injured people. It has over 4,700 member lawyers (mainly solicitors, barristers and legal executives) and is dedicated to changing the law, protecting and enhancing access to justice, and improving the services provided for victims of personal injury. It has become the leading, most respected organisation in its field.

Latest news on personal injury this week saw, Royal Bank of Scotland partly blame the decline on higher reserves on the costs of covering the rising costs of personal injury claims.

A consultation on civil litigation costs and funding in England and Wales, published by the Ministry of Justice, closed on 14 February 2011. Lord Justice Jackson recommended a number of reforms to the existing legislation and the government’s response to these and the public consultation views will be published shortly.

For a list of personal injury lawyers or solicitors you can visit our Personal Injury Solicitors page.