No Win No Fee : Information And Advice
No-win, no-fee claims are filed after a victim has been unjustly injured as a result of someone else’s actions, usually negligence, and in some cases even malicious intent. These claims, which are becoming the norm in the US, are characterized by the fact that legal expenses are paid by the other side’s insurance provider, even when the claim denied. It is a complex, societal issue. Today we will examine some of the pros and cons of this policy.
Pro: It clearly favors the claimant. Being in an injury case is never easy but knowing you can’t afford adequate legal protection adds insult to injury. Following your accident, any man or woman, regardless of income, can seek justice through the courts.
Con: America has become the most “sue-happy” nation on the planet. This reputation for litigiousness is notorious, and every week, the news features a new, ridiculously frivolous lawsuit. In the past 10 years, lawsuits have been filed against a restaurant for “failing to purchase and display a ‘wet floor’ sign in Armenian,” against a pet-shop for not informing the customer that a “dog’s teeth were sharp,” and against a car rental agency for not informing the driver the “vehicle had manual transmission.” These cases serve to undermine the legitimacy of no-win, no-fee claims and generally slow down the courts and erode trust in this system.
Pro: No-win, no-fee has turned us into a more just society. In the past, the size of your bankroll often played the biggest role in the size of your compensation package. If a wealthy person choked on a piece of glass in their steak, their lawyers would win claims in the millions of dollars. Whereas our less-fortunate citizens would routinely suffer with no chance of winning a settlement. Today, you are entitled to an attorney and free legal services (paid for by the other party’s insurance) irrespective of social class. That is definitely an improvement.
Con: No-win, no-fee is one of the culprits behind the health care crisis. It has been cited by multiple Congressional panels as such; Abuse of no-fee, no-win has resulted in a wave of frivolous lawsuits against hospitals and doctors. It is estimated now that only 1/3 of medical malpractice suits are legitimate. This ratio has driven insurance costs for healthcare providers through the roof, and they passed all this cost down to you and us.
Pro: Individual access to care and long-term recovery has greatly improved. Back when claimants used to depend on legal aid or the other party’s insurance company to help assess the claim, settlements were pathetically low. They would not take into account long-term problems that occurred as a result of a personal injury. Insurance companies would rush to stuff a pile of bills in a victim’s pocket, hoping it would shut them up. Often enough, it did. But they would go on to see a range of issues later in life, from muscular/joint pains, to phobias, to chronic ailments. They had no chance of being compensated for medical expenses or loss in pain and suffering. Today, your personal injury attorney will assess your case and make sure you get a settlement inclusive of those conditions, and adjusted for inflation and rising health care costs.
Further reading – Work Accident Compensation