How to find a solicitor and useful contacts
It is important that you choose a solicitor who has experience in your type of compensation claim, whether you were injured in a road traffic accident, at work, or due to clinical negligence (when you were injured in a medical accident, for example, when something went wrong during an operation). Don't just go to the solicitor who, for example, did your house purchase or made your will without first checking how good they are at personal injury law or other compensation claims similar to your own.
There are a number of ways to find experienced solicitors in your area:
- Community Legal Advice You can search their directory of approved solicitors on right of this page, or visit their website - there's a link at the right of this page.
- The Law Society You can also search for a solicitor by area of law at their website (see Links to other websites, on right), or phone 0870 606 2555. If your case involves an injury, ask for a solicitor on the Personal Injury Panel.
- Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) phone 0870 609 1958, or see the link at the right of this page.
For solicitors specialising in medical accident cases
- Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) phone 0845 123 2352, or see the link on right.
Choosing the right solicitor
Once you've found solicitors in your area who deal with your kind of compensation claim, don't just agree to let the first one you visit take your case.
Most solicitors will offer you a first meeting (of at least half an hour) free.
You should ask them the following questions before agreeing to let them take your case:
About the solicitors
- How much time will you provide free so you can assess my case?
- How many claims similar to mine have you handled in the past 12 months?
- What is the biggest claim of this type you have ever settled?
- What were the results?
- Is there any urgency about my case? If so are you able to deal with it urgently, and will this make it more expensive?
If you are claiming for a personal injury, also ask:
- Is the person who is going to supervise my claim a member of the Law Society's Personal Injury Panel or an accredited member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers?
- Will I will be able to speak to this solicitor?
- How much of the work is delegated to other, more junior staff?
About your case
Before you decide to go ahead with a claim, get clear answers in writing to the following questions:
- How much is my claim really worth? (Be careful about involving yourself with anyone who makes easy promises about how much money you are going to get. These can sometimes turn out to be misleading. Assessing the value of a claim is a professional judgement that can be reached only after information, such as accident and medical reports, has been collected and considered.)
- How do you rate my chances of making a successful claim?
- What are the risks involved?
- How much is it going to cost me to make this claim?
- Do the likely benefits to me outweigh the costs? (The amount of compensation you can realistically expect to get needs to be enough to be worth the legal costs, time and stress involved.)
- How long do you expect the case to take?
- Can I pull out of the case part way through if I change my mind?
- What will happen if I do?
Useful contacts
Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA)
Helpline: 0845 123 23 52
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
Helpline: 0870 609 1958
Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA)
Claims Management Regulation Monitoring and Compliance Unit
0845 450 6858
Community Legal Advice National Helpline
0845 345 4 345
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
Freephone: 0800 358 3601
Legal Complaints Service
Helpline: 0845 608 6565
Solicitors Regulation Authority
0870 606 2555
All solicitors must follow a set of professional rules, known as the solicitors conduct rules. The SRA takes action against solicitors who have broken these rules.
