Medical Negligence Birmingham
THOUSANDS of people in Birmingham will lose their chance to fight for justice due to the Government’s planned cuts to legal aid funding, lawyers have warned.
The Law Society fears Birmingham will be one of the worst hit cities in the UK following the proposals to axe £350 million from the legal aid budget.
The organisation, which represents lawyers across the country, said more than 6,500 cases set to be heard in Birmingham could be at risk of collapse due to the planned cuts and the city’s legal firms will lose more than £1.1 million in business.
They said the biggest losers will be those fighting medical negligence cases, employees battling bad bosses, couples facing divorce and parents seeking custody of their children.
Now the society has launched a Sound Off For Justice campaign, urging the public to sign a petition to put an end to the proposals, which form part of the Justice Bill.
Richard Miller, head of Legal Aid at the Law Society, said: “By cutting legal aid funding, access to the courts, legal advice and representation will be drastically reduced.
“Those needing help in cases of medical negligence, divorce, employment and welfare will no longer have access to justice.
“These people will effectively be silenced, as their cases will go unheard without the support of a legal aid lawyer.
“Justice will become only available to the wealthy, with the poor being the worst hit.
“Many will face a dilemma between plunging themselves into debt to try and fund their battle, going unrepresented in court, or giving up their fight for justice altogether.”
He said cases where children have been left with “catastrophic injuries” at the hands of medics could go unheard, leaving families struggling to raise them without financial settlements made through medical negligence cases.
“The Government seems to think that these cases won’t be affected as people can still pursue them through ‘no win, no fee’ lawyers or insurers.
“But the reality is a lot of these companies will not want to touch these cases as the cost of pursuing clinical negligence can run into thousands of pounds just for expert reports alone and if there’s no guarantee they will win they will be reluctant to outlay such huge costs,” added Mr Miller.
“It will mean hospitals that have done wrong will not be accountable for their actions and will not learn from their mistakes, leaving the risk of more negligence occurring.”
He said that, instead of the cuts, top-flight barristers should be paid less, the NHS should be more willing to accept liability for medical wrong-doings and the Crown Prosecution Service should ensure it only pursues cases that are viable, therefore reducing the demand on legal aid funding so it is only used when really necessary.
source: birminghammail.net
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