General Advice – December 2021

Fair Enough

I understand that lawyers often take sides in matters. In fact, firms declare themselves as being either pro-claimant or pro-defendant. They wear it as a badge of honour.

I sometimes try to put myself in one or other camp and imagine how I would behave. In reality, if I was acting for plaintiffs, it would be my duty and desire to serve them as best I could. One simple service may be to procure a report from a plaintiff-sympathetic expert. Defendants would probably do the converse.

The problem from an orthopaedic perspective is that we do have outlying experts who are either exceedingly pro-plaintiff or equally pro-defendant. Securing a report from one of these outliers simply muddies the water. It confuses the accuracy of the middle ground, prolongs the matter and adds to the cost. Whilst that may assist the bottom line for the legal firm, the no-win/no-fee groups may be dissuaded early in the programme. That in itself may disadvantage the plaintiff’s position.

I recognise that this is a complex matter and the only salvation I see is that we all act morally and keep a fair end point firmly in the frame.