If you have suffered an injury on the job, through no fault of your own, you probably know that you can apply for workers compensation. However, people are less sure about when they can take a personal injury claim in other circumstances.
Interestingly, the Law Society of Ireland has strict rules (see here for the Solicitors (Advertising) Regulations)on how lawyers and solicitors are able to advertise services relating to personal injury claims, which can make it more confusing for people who have suffered a physical or psychological injury due to another’s negligence to know what options are available to them.
What Are Personal Injury Claims?
A personal injury claim is when you take legal action against a person, company or government agency who you feel has caused you to be injured. This may include physical injuries such as breaking your leg after falling down stairs in a public building due to the handrail breaking or whiplash suffered in an accident where the other driver has run a red light. Personal injury also covers psychological injuries. This can cover a range of areas, including suffering embarrassment or professional damage, perhaps a situation where you were forced to pee your pants because you were refused bathroom access, or serious phycological harm, perhaps from sexual abuse suffered in childcare or boarding school.
Some of these personal injuries may be covered by insurance, however, there are many instances where you should be given compensation for the loss that you have suffered. Loss of income from your inability to work, costs of physical therapy, cost of counseling or psychology sessions, requirements to adapt your house or car to make them suitable for disability, all of these costs should not have to be covered by you if the injury was caused through no fault of your own.
However, as many people are not aware of no win no fee Solicitors in Dublin, due to advertising restrictions, they may not be aware of compensation options available to them. Sometimes all people want is an apology and for the entity to improve their standards, but if you have large out of pocket expenses because of an entities negligence the law allows for you to try and be compensated.
What Is No Win – No Fee?
Unlike in America, Ireland does not have a particularly litigious society. There are many checks and balances provided by the government and the healthcare system meaning that it is not essential to sue in order to meet your basic needs. https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/legal-analysis/law-society-meets-minister-to-rectify-imbalance-in-insurance-debatenew-page/
However, when you are looking at a lifetime of therapy and major modifications to your life you probably need a higher level of compensation what is currently provided by government systems. Personal injury claims are designed to allow for this.
Just as there are lawyers the specialize in the law relating to buying or selling property, and lawyers the specialize in relationship and divorce situations, there are lawyers the specialize in personal injury claims.
When you are first contemplating going through the personal injury claim process you will need to find a lawyer that is able to assist you. Because they are not able to state in any advertising that they do not charge a fee if they win for you, many people are put off from going to court for fear of large lawyers bills on top of everything else.
What no win, no fee means is that a lawyer will provide legal representation for you, they will do all the paperwork, filing, court work, and negotiations on your behalf, to try and get you the best possible compensation package. Out of this payout, they will take their fee, normally a percentage of the final amount. Generally, a lawyer will only agree to take your case if they feel that there is a very good chance of winning. When you sign up with them you will agree to the final percentage that they will take, and if any other expenses will be covered. There may also be a clause relating to any fees that you will pay if you decide to stop action, so read your contract carefully before you sign, and be sure you know what you are signing up for.
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