Claimant lawyers have voiced concerns after the Civil Justice Council set up a working group to look into introducing fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence cases valued at £25,000 or less.
The working group, chaired by DAC Beachcroft partner Andrew Parker, launched last week and will make its recommendations by the end of September 2018. However, Tim Spring, partner at Moore Blatch, said fixed costs would ‘only serve to limit access to justice for the victims of clinical errors and reward obstructive behaviour from defendants’.
Law Society president Joe Egan expressed concern about the ‘worryingly short timeframe’ for the group.
Also opposing fixed costs, Brett Dixon, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Apil), said costs could be saved by reducing the number of avoidable injuries.
