As one of the largest law firms in the UK, Irwin Mitchell is a highly respected company. Having been around for a number of years – having been established in 1912 – they have become one of the most respected law firms in the field of personal injury, medical negligence and even travel claims.
People from all over the UK have been helped by Irwin Mitchell’s solicitors over the years and they now have 9 national offices all over the UK; in Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, London, Newcastle, Manchester and Sheffield. They also have international offices in both Malaga and Madrid.
More than a million people in the UK have been helped since their inception back in 1912 and as a whole, the company employs more than 2,000 people, specialising in a range of different legal fields. Irwin Mitchell’s employs include 113 partners, 900 associates plus consultants and senior advisors.
As well as being well respected by the people they help with their legal needs, Irwin Mitchell are also recognised as a key company in the legal world. This is recognised by several awards that have been won by the company, including Law Firm of the Year in 2007, Winner of the South Yorkshire Corporate Law Firm of the Year 2009 and Client Care Law Firm of the Year in both 1999 and 2002.
Irwin Mitchell specialise in personal injury claims, however they can help you with a wide range of personal legal issues including employment disputes, family law, investment services, environmental law, human rights, insolvency, motoring offences and estate administration and probate.
Irwin Mitchell’s tagline is that they are a law firm for life, because at some point, everyone will need a solicitor in their lives and Irwin Mitchell strive to be that firm.
The Irwin Mitchell accident claims Sheffield page on www.irwinmitchell.com has a lot of information if you are interested in knowing more about the claims process.
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Irwin Mitchell Profile
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Whilst few have sympathy for solicitors and many believe that all solicitors are “fat cats”, this is in fact different from the reality, except generally in very large commercial practices. We understand that solicitor’s hourly charging rates appear expensive, but few are aware of the overheads. Running a solicitor’s practice requires significant staffing costs, together with the usual business premises costs many office based companies must pay. What many do not realise is that the compulsory solicitors professional indemnity insurance, which provides very significant comfort for all clients, is hugely expensive, and can range from anywhere between 5-15% of turnover. Take all the overheads into account and most solicitors net profit margins are 30% or less, apply this to the hourly rate or fixed fee, and you may have a different perspective on the charges. having said this, many solicitors do not help themselves by failing to be clera and transparent about these kinds of issues, so hopefully, this short post may help !
Employment law problems rising
Employment related referrals to solicitors on the rise
Contactlaw is one of the leading legal leads referrals companies in the Uk. It advises that the number of employment law related enquiries it has received have increased markedly by just under 30% from the corresponding period in 2010, many of these being related to public sector cuts. Those cuts are only just starting to bite. Somewhat depressing news except for employment lawyers.
Medical negligence update
Damages for medical negligence exceed £1 bn for the first time.
Figures released this week show a large jump in the amount of damages paid out medical negligence claims, topping the £1 billion mark for the first time. These figures are unlikely to be repeated in the near future due to the legal aid cuts as many of these claims can only proceed with the help financial help and due to the complexity, time input and need for medical expert evidence, it remains to be seen whether no win no fee can fill the void.
The law society, perhaps presaging the inevitable shouts of “fat cat lawyers2 have suggested that the damages jump is caused by an unnecessary attitude on behalf of defendants to these claims and the NHS Litigation Authority and that many claims should never get near a court which would reduce the bill. We should emphasise that the £1billion figure is for damages and not legal fees, which amount to some £286 million in the last year..
Apparently, in the last year, around 25% of all medical negligence claims were funded with legal aid and around 30% were actions regarding children.
Judge believes that technology is “out of control”
Judge calls for online curb on reckless gossip
The Lord Chief Justice has made clear the judiciary’s concerns about the recent debacle of an injunction being brazenly flouted and circumvented, and the implications of this for genuine privacy rights and rights not to have malicious lies and gossip become acceptable.
He called on society to bring “under control” those “who in effect peddle lies about others” online.
Further, the Lord Chief Justice stated his view that technology is now “totally out of control”. Few would disagree with him that there need to be some kind of boundaries but unless and until governments co-operate on jurisdictional issues (a UK injunction may not be enforceable against a non-UK based individual or entity) and sanctions are imposed that mean that online chatters do not believe they have safety in numbers, a solution looks a long way off.
Domestic violence court closures ?
Specialist domestic violence courts to close ?
The Law Society Gazette has claimed this week that some 15% of specialist domestic violence courts will be closed due to the government’s austerity and reorganisation of the courts plans. What do you think about this ?
There have been specialist domestic violence courts since 2005 with 127 courts, across the country. What is different about these courts is that they work as a partnership between police, prosecutors, court staff, the probation service and specialist support services for victims.
Do you have a view on this story ? Have you been affected by domestic violence issues ? Please do let us know.
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