Pursue a career as a personal injury lawyer

Compensation claims for personal injury are one of the fastest growing areas of legal practice today. We live in a crowded, rushed world where budgets are tight and corners are cut. This means thousands of motoring, work-related and public accidents happen each year through other people’s negligence. If someone is injured through no fault of their own, a compensation claim on a no win no fee basis is often the only course open.


A lot of misinformation has been printed about “no win no fee” personal injury lawyers, but the idea of a solicitor hiding in the bushes, waiting for someone to trip over a loose paving slab so he can dash out with the paperwork to make a compensation claim is a media myth.


Personal injury lawyers are caring and knowledgeable, with an intricate eye to detail. They know the devastating effects a personal injury can have on someone’s life, because they’ve studied the medical, psychological and social aspects of it in detail. They’re also smart, and very good at fighting their clients’ cases in court – the fact they offer compensation claims on a no win no fee basis, where the injured party doesn’t have to pay a penny in fees if the claim is unsuccessful, is proof of this.


Unfortunately, the number of uninsured motorists, illegal work practices and slashed council budgets continues to rise – as do the compensation claims from the injuries that result. If you decide on a career as a no win no fee personal injury lawyer, you’ll never be short of work.

Pursue a career as a personal injury lawyer

The biggest compensation claims cases in the last ten years

A driver in Toronto received $17 million in an accident claim after running through a red light.
Yet this is small potatoes compared to The case of professional dancer Kerstin Parkin which made recent news, after her lawyers made a successful compensation claim of £19 million against a Kent NHS trust. Kerstin was left brain damaged and paralysed for life after a series of blunders as she gave birth to her first child.
. In the UK, we have a somewhat fairer way of dealing with compensation claim cases – which is why a lot of no win no fee lawyers refuse to take on cases where the claimant is seen to be at fault.
Nonetheless, there have been some impressive sums awarded in the last 10 years. Like Kerstin, many of these were due to hospital blunders. Others include:

• The £1.25 million lump sum payout awarded to an elderly man who was knocked off his motor bike by an uninsured driver. Awarded on a no win no fee basis, the Motor Insurers Bureau accepted liability on behalf of the 21 year-old female driver.

• The £3 million awarded to a South London pedestrian who suffered spinal injuries after being knocked down while crossing the road.

• The 5,700 members of the trade union Unison who claimed £28 million for work-related accidents in 2008 alone.

No win no fee compensation claims are a fact of life today – it should be noted that, in the above cases, the victims deserved every penny of what they got.

The biggest compensation claims cases in the last ten years

Important questions to ask a personal injury lawyer during your consultation

If you have suffered a personal injury through no perceived fault of your own, you need to seek an appointment with a solicitor who specialises in no win no fee compensation claims.

Finding a lawyer who will give you a consultation is one thing; finding one who will fight your case fairly, without leaving you out of pocket, is another. So be prepared to ask a lot of questions. These include:

Will this consultation be free of charge? Generally, the answer is yes – but beware of offices who say “free consultations” on the door. If you book an appointment, and then decide to go elsewhere, you may be billed for the lawyer’s time. Unlikely, but worth asking about.

Will you take my case on a no win, no fee basis? Practically every solicitor tackling personal injury claims will say yes, but beware! You need to be protected in case of losing the case, because if this happens you will have to pay the other side’s costs – and these can be very high. So your next question should be:

When you say no win no fee, with no fees to pay, what does this mean? Generally, in the event of a successful outcome, you get to keep 100% of your compensation claim – the solicitor recovers their costs from the other party. If you lose, they cover their own costs.

What if I’m partly to blame for the accident? In this case, a no win no fee lawyer might still take you on, but the compensation claim may be reduced.

Important questions to ask a personal injury lawyer during your consultation