PAB-Barrister on personal Injury claim unprepared

[Ganymede]

telephone calls and transport were put at Zero : 00 for the judge discrection knowing that I was litigant in person.

Total of of cost was 12g .

The Barrister didnt prepare her cost, nor skeleton argument,

kept negotiating for me hoping he can get more.

 

 

The judgement was default for 41g in 2011

which was set aside by defendant on the basis that he didnt get notice of summon,

and when my Barrister took it over in 2014 he boosted it to 90k.

I wanted to belief that she knew what she was doing and have cases to back it up.

 

Yes damages was 5k.

before that the judge had ask the barrister about test case brought by defence.

He was quiet.

 

 

Order of 2011 re set aside was cost in the case.

Yes bundle cost was included in the schedule but the Barrister omitted it whn reading to the judge.

 

 

She had not even prepared her own cost coz our arrangement was on % Commission on the outcome.

She read out the cost scheduled I have prepared for her fees.

 

 

Well as you put "zero" you were awarded zero. A judge will not pluck a figure out of thin air, you needed to state a figure and back it up. I don't want to sound harsh but it would appear you mad ea complete hash of it by not instructing solicitors and have paid the price.

 

It was for you to file and serve your Schedule of Costs prior to the hearing taking place, to include all Court fees and Barrister's fees, not your Barrister. I'm surprised that the judge awarded you anything at all if it wasn't "slipped" to them until right at the end of the hearing.

 

So did the judge have a copy of your Schedule of Costs to look through or did the Barrister just read out? It's quite important.

[simeon1964]

Barrister just read it to the court. Barrister was dismissive of my schedule of cost saying I will do mine but non to give except mine. How do I move forward with barrister now ?

[Ganymede]

In relation to costs, how much were just the Barrister's fees and Court fees added together? (Not your travel and telephone calls etc).

 

Are you still wanting to appeal the compensation award?

[simeon1964]

Am more intrested in my own cost than the award now because Barrister was not prepared, he should have known the worth of my claim, that is what they are for- opinion. am levied that he was fighting for more when he could have used his judgement to accept the offer. He just play around with my case or had his day. Dont want to appeal. Barrister was asked by the judge if he was going to appeal. he didnt seek my permission before saying no. How somebodycan put a case for 90k awarded 5k and say no to appeal was beyond belief. he has no argument to defend the claim I believe. Are barrister sueable? or what can I do?

[Ganymede]

Permission to appeal was reserved so you can appeal if you choose.

 

The Barrister cannot just use his/her judgement to accept an offer, they need your explicit instructions to do so.

 

You need to go through the internal Chambers complaints procedure and then you can escalate it to the ombudsman.

[simeon1964]

I received the Barrister mail this morning 'Further to my response today. The time limit the Appeal in this case is 21 days from the date of the Judgment. Not 28 days as stated in my response.'

What do I appeal for? the cost? or P.I after almost seven years of this case? i have no resources again and if anything I will like to appeal the cost. P.I has been messed for not being prepared.

[simeon1964]

Thank so much, l now have the order and it reads

‘Claimant be awarded £5,470 for the category of PTSD. £4200.00 be deducted for CICA and the defendant pay cost summarily assessed at £6,600.00 as follows: £4,300.00 (representing counsel fee within 28 days and balance of £2,300.00 to be paid within 56days of the order. Claimant do pay defendant £250.00 towards the cost of amended defence such can be deducted from payment due’

Given that our arrangement was %commission and my barrister had not prepared her own cost but read out from mine, please help give your explanation.

[Ganymede]

Wait, so you were actually awarded around £12k in total for costs and damages.

 

Did you bring a separate CICA claim for the same incident and get £4200 then? Why did you not mention this before?

 

Can you be clearer with what you want advice on now please. Do you want to appeal the costs award or the damages amount?

[simeon1964]

Yes cica claim was paid in feb.2011, well before the diagnosed PTSD. The award was based on less severe in support defense cumsel case law to which my barrister cannot defend.

' The fact is that I was diagnosed PSTD on the 02/03/2011 by Dr. Hospital, it cannot be justified that the argument of the defence counsel quote:

(‘In any event D will say that the sum of £4,000.00 that admits to have received from the CICB was an adequate general damage award or remedy for the injury he suffered in this matter. The CICB correctly asses C injury as falling under the category of less severe warranting compensation in the region in the region of between £3,000.00 to £6,225.00 (See BPILS issue [email protected]; case example cited@2035; Kemp & Kemp @C2-040). If anything any such award should be made at all in the circumstances of this case that is a payment that has to be made to the CICB.' )

That the above counsel defence cannot justify less severe as payment made by cica was on 09/02/2011 unfurtunately my barrister did not point this out as he didnt prepare. Yes this is my ground of appeal plus the cost award of 6k was inadequate as is in no way meet my schedule of cost. or should I go after the barrister for refusing to update me on the offer 20k?

 

[Ganymede]

I think we need to know the background to the claim.

 

Who assaulted you? What injuries did you sustain?

 

How long did you suffer from PTSD for?

[simeon1964]

will the court transcript be ok? as I intend to ask for one.

[simeon1964]

I am still suffering todate but not as severe as I have moved from the eviroment in march 2016.suffering was from 2010-2016 by member of my family, however my assailant knows where I live.

[Ganymede]

will the court transcript be ok? as I intend to ask for one.

 

You will need that to appeal.

 

We only need a brief summary.

[simeon1964]

Claim lodged 2010 by me and my Company as first and second claimant as a result of an attack at my business place a member of my family who was later arrested and, denied the attack and when cctv was shown admitted and was cautioned. I then made application to Cica and award was made almost a year of lodging the claim. I was diagnosed PTSD after the award.

default, judgement was served, then C judgement was for 41k is for loss of earning to business and myself in 2011. Then C effected execution of judgement, charging order etc. D then made application to set aside. Direction were given and I was all along being help with the direction by firm of solicitors to which I paid fee as the matter went along and all receipts kept. My claim now reduced to me alone as the C and the business name taken off on the advice of a lawyer for a PI claim. Then order and direction were followed and in 2014 my Barrister came into the picture and another amended particular of claim was lodged and trial proceeding. The claim now rose to 90k with me. I want to belief he knew what he was doing.

Hope this help

[Ruleoflaw]

You will need that to appeal.

 

We only need a brief summary.

 

 

The rule is if you win your case - costs follows the event, so any cost detriments the winner should be able to recover all reasonable costs. You had a barrister then you changed your status to 'litigant in person.' Your legal costs should have followed the event, ie claims for legal costs for 2 years prior and costs from when your barrister had taken over up to the point when the event (end of case) was over. You could have a claim against your barrister for negligence as he likely over-valued your case, screwed you as far as your costs go.

[Ruleoflaw]

Simeon

 

 

I completed a tort course at law degree level with the Open University, which covers PTSD and all tort (remedy for civil wrong). You say you were diagnosed, by whom and did the person who gave you a diagnosis provide specific detail on your actual suffering relating it to the defendant's tort (civil wrong against you), and how long you were likely to be affected. What evidence do you have that you have PTSD, for instance what information did your medical professional provide in their medical report, all these things are pertinent to valuing a claim for PTSD, besides satisfying the law for PTSD claims.

[Ruleoflaw]

Well as you put "zero" you were awarded zero. A judge will not pluck a figure out of thin air, you needed to state a figure and back it up. I don't want to sound harsh but it would appear you mad ea complete hash of it by not instructing solicitors and have paid the price.

 

It was for you to file and serve your Schedule of Costs prior to the hearing taking place, to include all Court fees and Barrister's fees, not your Barrister. I'm surprised that the judge awarded you anything at all if it wasn't "slipped" to them until right at the end of the hearing.

 

So did the judge have a copy of your Schedule of Costs to look through or did the Barrister just read out? It's quite important.

 

 

The barrister should have included his client's costs in the summary of overall costs, as the barrister had taken over 2 years after the OP started his case. The barrister appears to be negligent so his client can possibly claim for 'worsening his existing PTSD injuries (the tort-feasor takes his victim as he finds him). The barrister will have insurance to defend the claim too, so in principal a claim against his lawyer is at least possible.

[BazzaS]

The barrister should have included his client's costs in the summary of overall costs, as the barrister had taken over 2 years after the OP started his case. The barrister appears to be negligent so his client can possibly claim for 'worsening his existing PTSD injuries (the tort-feasor takes his victim as he finds him). The barrister will have insurance to defend the claim too, so in principal a claim against his lawyer is at least possible.

 

How would you show the the barrister's actions have caused "worsening" (of) "his existing PTSD injuries" for the 'egg-shell skull' factor to come into play?.. Is that the harm you believe has occurred allowing a claim in negligence?

[Ganymede]

I hope the OP doesn't mind, but here is the full response from the Barrister to the OP's complaint...

 

1. I am writing further to your letter of complaint sent on 6 October 2016.

 

2. First of all I would like to clarify that I did not assist you to lodge your claim. When you came to me, your claim had already been lodged.

 

3. Your initial Particulars of Claim was not legally sound, as you had initially claim harassment and not personal injury (the Judge indicated this). You had initially claimed £45,000 for your income losses and you did not provide the figure for your personal injury of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was the reason that I requested that the Court allow the preparation of a schedule of loss during the Case Management Hearing of 24 November 2015. I was able to assist with a schedule of loss and included the tariff for your personal injury claim which according to the JSB guidelines was in the region of £40,000-£66,000 (You had indicated this in the original bundle but it was not particularised) for severe PTSD and you made all the input in relation to your special damages. I did not "bump" up your claim as suggested I only particularised your initial claim.

 

4. You will note that we were only successful in proving part of the Claim as the Judge mentioned that he had strong suspicions that the Defendant may have sent the people to intimidate and harass you but there was insufficient evidence. The Medical reports had indicated that the events in March relating to the actions of other family members were a contributory factor to the PTSD. It was on this basis that the Judge reduced the award.

 

5. I understandably took the view that the Defendant and his family members were responsible for your injury however, with all litigation, the Court has the final say and the made it’s decision. The Judge had clearly indicated that the case was rightly brought so to now blame me for the court’s decision is highly unreasonable.

I will now deal with the other issues in turn.

 

Skeleton Argument

 

6.I accept that I did not initially prepare a skeleton argument. I had explained to you in the morning that the issue was very narrow and the Defence had not made their position clear; that there were no major legal matters that would be required to be addressed in a skeleton argument. I had also mentioned that the other side had not arranged with me to exchange one, that I will deal with the matters during submissions.

 

7.Prior to the hearing, the Defence did indeed provide a skeleton argument and I showed to you to confirm that there were no real legal issues there except the issue of damages and that the guidelines are clear in that respect and that I would nevertheless proceed to quickly prepare one as we had time before the hearing. I admit it was not the best of circumstances but I did my best and produced one before the hearing. The Judge did not appear to take any issue with that and I produced a lengthier skeleton argument the next day and essentially, my point was that your case fell within the severe category to warrant the claim award in that category.

 

Offer of Settlement

 

8.Your version in respect of the offer of settlement is inaccurate. I was in fact shocked that you had texted the Defendant behind my back, without my knowledge the night before the hearing for settlement. Even when I arrived in court you tried to speak to the Defence Counsel in my absence in relation to the settlement. I could only imagine that you were trying to cut me out of any settlement.

 

9. Nevertheless, I explained to you that the matter is in court and you are represented and I should speak to the Defence Counsel. I had conversation with the Defence Counsel and I then explained the nature of our conversation in that the Defence were underplaying the nature of your injury to less severe even though the report mentioned the severity of your PTSD. I informed you that they had offered £12,000, that although it is no where near our claim, I clearly recall telling you that the courts are very stringent with awards and that it is your decision. I also recall explaining to you that if you wanted to meet the Defendant half way, we could compromise on the fact that the issue with regards to the other family members were not clear cut. I recall that before I could even finish explaining to you, when you heard the figure £12,000 you stood up and clearly indicated your lack of interest.

 

10.The other side did not up their offer after the lunch break. The Counsel simply stated his client may go up to £20,000 but that the trial is underway in any event. I only relayed this back to you and again you did not show any interest in that amount in any event.

 

Special Damages

 

11.The Judge clearly indicated that you could not claim your special damages for loss of income as the amount had already been claimed in another proceedings that resulted in the settlement for a similar figure. I had explained the Judge’s indication to you at the end of the first day that we may be at difficulty if we cannot separate the amount claimed from the amount that you received from the settlement. I clearly recall stating that we required more proof of your assertions. However you were vague with your response in that you stated that you had HMRC figures for the last year and that was how the losses were made up and I recall that there had always been difficulties with reconciling the figures. The position that I was pursuing was that you did not receive the full amount that you were owed through the settlement. Again, that was clearly the Judge’s decision to take that approach.

 

Your Costs

 

12.Under no circumstances am I liable for your costs. I had tried to settle the schedule of costs with you prior to the hearing but for some reason or another, you did not provide me with your schedule until the early hours of the hearing date. I had intended to request that the costs be assessed summarily so that the costs could be scheduled appropriately.

 

13.This is not an unusual approach and I recall explaining to you that you are essentially a litigant in person and you cannot claim your personal costs. I could not hand the schedule to the Judge as it had included costs for calls and other matters which you personally undertook and were not claimable. I did however indicate to the Judge that the schedule contained costs for approximately £12,000 of which the Judge raised his eyebrows and indicated that the costs should be no where near that.

 

14.He also said that bearing in mind the award, that the costs should be proportionate. The Judge also said that he was looking at half of that. So the Judge requested what the costs were for and I proceeded to narrate the claimable aspects of the schedule and I included all the court fees and the actual legal costs incurred through my services. The Judge then went through the costs and he also slashed some of the costs.

 

15.I also reminded the Judge of your care costs and costs for transportation for your therapy and the other side submitted that it was unfair to claim costs for your wife’s care so the Judge proceeded to reduce that also.

 

In all the Court made its decision and that is the risk of litigation. I also note that the Judge had reserved the rights of the parties to lodge an appeal and you are of course entitled to do so within 28 days. I simply informed the court that I had no instructions for an appeal but that does not mean that you could not appeal the decision. Your right to appeal still remains and I would have explained all this to you if you had given me the opportunity after court.

 

It's not as straight forward as the OP is suggesting.

[Ganymede]

The barrister should have included his client's costs in the summary of overall costs, as the barrister had taken over 2 years after the OP started his case. The barrister appears to be negligent so his client can possibly claim for 'worsening his existing PTSD injuries (the tort-feasor takes his victim as he finds him). The barrister will have insurance to defend the claim too, so in principal a claim against his lawyer is at least possible.

 

The Barrister appears to have got his fees and the OP's disbursements which isn't a bad result considering the poor state and the late filing of the Schedule of Costs.

 

The Barrister was not running the claim as far as I understand, only assisting with various elements such as drafting some documents and attending the trial.

 

Most of the OP's "costs" don't appear to be recoverable.

 

As for the Barrister worsening the OP's condition, I see absolutely no basis for a legal claim against them for that unfortunately. The OP started his claim and the Barrister was only acting on instructions.

[steampowered]

If you want to sue someone for negligence, you need to be able to very clearly specify what that person has done wrong.

 

I personally am not entirely clear what, exactly, the Op thinks the barrister did wrong in this case.

[simeon1964]

Thank you.There was no late filing of schedule of cost. schedule was sent to barrister Feb 2015 over a year and was updated and given to him on the seconday of the hearing. Even after giving it him he was dismissive of my schedul of cost, he said he didnt need it as we have not won the case yet, I can present another day. He was full of lies. He will do his own. Then found out he needed my schedule of cost when judgement was handed down. What are my option now? Appeal the cost, Cica payment was not for PTSD as the diagnose was after the payment. or complain to ombudman

[simeon1964]

What Barrister did wrong: Failed to prepare skeleton argument when he was presented one by defence counsel. Saying that he didn’t he had to do one.

Borrow my i pad to start to scribble skeleton Agu. one and held the court to 1.5 hrs on the pretext that he was negotiating and in the toilet.

Kept good offer away from the client so that he can get more commission

Boosted the claim without legal argument to justify it.

Defence counsel test case example to which my barrister was asked to comment he said nothing

Defence counsel test case example was flawed but my Barrister didn’t know that as the Cica was not paid for PTSD. PTSD was diagnosed after Cica payment was made.

Barrister should have been able to value client claim and defend it

[Ganymede]

Thank you.There was no late filing of schedule of cost. schedule was sent to barrister Feb 2015 over a year and was updated and given to him on the seconday of the hearing. Even after giving it him he was dismissive of my schedul of cost, he said he didnt need it as we have not won the case yet, I can present another day. He was full of lies. He will do his own. Then found out he needed my schedule of cost when judgement was handed down. What are my option now? Appeal the cost, Cica payment was not for PTSD as the diagnose was after the payment. or complain to ombudman

 

The second day of the hearing is late filing for the Schedule of Cost.

 

They must usually be filed 48-24 hours before the first day starts!

[simeon1964]

I have till wednesday to appeal this. Can anyone tell what my options are?