Medical Negligence - No win, no fee

[RedEyes]

I cannot believe the English Grammar and Spelling applied by some of the members

You're on pretty dangerous ground here and my advice woould be not to pursue this line of debate.  Besides which, you wrote "when UK solicitors work on no win no fee they bare the costs".  People in glass houses......   

[byrney]

No problem Amanda

[Amanda Oakley]

Thanks Byrney..... Just waiting on more input from Tomas !!! been very busy so I have to admit, I have not been chasing him !!! NOT FORGOTTEN in any event !!!!

[byrney]

I opened the post and I can confirm that Amanda has been trying to help out - through her own good will.  I am eternally grateful for her efforts and I know that she also helps others without wanting any reward, despite her running her own business.  A true diamond!

[Amanda Oakley]

Selina..... I responded to your post and did not get twisted in any way....... you certainly have !!!! If you have any views to air, please feel free to contact me !!!!! via forum or in private !!!!!

I am sure the OP who I am trying to help (at no cost), will support the tiny effort I have made!!! as will all those who know me ..... I have no problem in stating my name against any comments made...... If clarity needed, I will explain as you are obviously not a "native" English speaker....... My name is Amanda Lucie Oakley...... not sure of your name ????

[Rtis]

Sometime ago, there was a person going on about Illegal properties and talk about a tv series, is this the same person with a different forum name ? The tv one went quiet !!

[Tetley]

Gosh you are getting your knickers in a twist Ms Oakley, I have clearly hit a nerve, you are right i do not know the law in Spain or the procedures, I am aware of the Colegio, I could not find any cases in Spain where an abogado/a has been struck off, or reprimanded.    I have learned of many dishonest and  unscrupulous abogados in Spain who receive and take commission and grossly overcharge unsuspecting BRITS.,  I have not heard of any UK solicitors do this, UK solicitors are not totally innocent, but Spain wins hands down on unscrupulous behaviour and robbing clients.   Regarding no win no fee in UK, I contacted an experienced colleague who informed me in UK they  generally arrange an insurance to cover the costs, but the insurance companies want a min of 60% chance of winning, in fact many insurance individuals has amazing legal skills and many are legally qualified.   I think I mentioned many people do have personal legal cover insurance alongside their house insurance and do not even realise it, I had to check mine and I do have it .   I must go now because some of us have real jobs and  I must finish my real job research in prep.for work tomorrow morning, I do not have the time to reply to every query or comment on this forum, incidentally I am a QUALIFIED SOLICITOR in Corporate Finance.   It has been an experience  using this forum, my heart goes out to anyone who needs advise as they are accused on Fishing, I do not understand what that means but hey ho.   I must say this - I cannot believe the English Grammar and Spelling applied by some of the members, perhaps their time could be best spent studying ENGLISH before putting fingers on keyboard,   and embarrassing themselves, in the beginning I thought they were typos - sadly they are not,  my 10 year old daughter would leave some standing, she has far better  command of the English Language. 

dont waist your little girls time with English,Chinese is the one to learn ,the china person is going to rule the manufacturing ,finance world very soon,i myself am already stocking up on pot noddles and learning mandarin.

Ne how   

[Selina]

Gosh you are getting your knickers in a twist Ms Oakley, I have clearly hit a nerve, you are right i do not know the law in Spain or the procedures, I am aware of the Colegio, I could not find any cases in Spain where an abogado/a has been struck off, or reprimanded.    I have learned of many dishonest and  unscrupulous abogados in Spain who receive and take commission and grossly overcharge unsuspecting BRITS.,  I have not heard of any UK solicitors do this, UK solicitors are not totally innocent, but Spain wins hands down on unscrupulous behaviour and robbing clients.   Regarding no win no fee in UK, I contacted an experienced colleague who informed me in UK they  generally arrange an insurance to cover the costs, but the insurance companies want a min of 60% chance of winning, in fact many insurance individuals has amazing legal skills and many are legally qualified.   I think I mentioned many people do have personal legal cover insurance alongside their house insurance and do not even realise it, I had to check mine and I do have it .   I must go now because some of us have real jobs and  I must finish my real job research in prep.for work tomorrow morning, I do not have the time to reply to every query or comment on this forum, incidentally I am a QUALIFIED SOLICITOR in Corporate Finance.   It has been an experience  using this forum, my heart goes out to anyone who needs advise as they are accused on Fishing, I do not understand what that means but hey ho.   I must say this - I cannot believe the English Grammar and Spelling applied by some of the members, perhaps their time could be best spent studying ENGLISH before putting fingers on keyboard,   and embarrassing themselves, in the beginning I thought they were typos - sadly they are not,  my 10 year old daughter would leave some standing, she has far better  command of the English Language. 

[Amanda Oakley]

As per, Tets rules !!!
Selina just needs to do some research and get facts right !!

[Tetley]

Spot on Tetley.

Spain has their own equivalent to the Law Society - Colegio de Abogados.

A complaint about a lawyer can be made by contacting the bar council.

https://www.abogacia.es/conozcanos/la-institucion/colegios-y-consejos/

Jnr,s been working in the courts with the public defenders office,ie yer havent got the money for a lawyer they provide yer with one,the lawyers are on a royal collage rota   and do so many per year ,great life experience for the real world away from our cuddly middle class/have pot to pee in world,that a lot of us  here enjoy.

also just out of a bit of further interest for the interested and going
well off topic

the Judges here are not necessarily lawyers, folks get a law degree then go onto the civil service judge course....which takes years to complete ,there is also a judge training camp in Barcelona ,were judges are trained in the court room practices  and the unies send there teams to prosecute and defend  in mock trials as part of the training for the young law  masters students and apprentice judges.

and again going right off the radar on this hot sunny day....sorry

the king has a law degree and is into debating ,one of Jnrs proff,s got a call from the palace to go and debate @ the palace ....he  thought it was a friend taking the nxss.....and put the phone down....it was the palace,and he did go in the end  lol

[MAZ4929]

Spot on Tetley.

Spain has their own equivalent to the Law Society - Colegio de Abogados.

A complaint about a lawyer can be made by contacting the bar council.

https://www.abogacia.es/conozcanos/la-institucion/colegios-y-consejos/

[Tetley]

Thanks for the reply Selina.

No, we certainly weren't conned into giving these unscrupulous bastards a â,¬950 fee.

How can they get away with it?  Well, it's the "legal" profession so I suppose they can.....

In Spain they can get away with it because they do not have the Law Society equiv., in UK they would get struck off, on the PI side many op close to the wind, you must be a certain kind of person to do PI, personally I could not do it and I would recommend you to never use a No Win No fee Solicitor, in the US they are referred to as ambulance chasers and that expression is accurate.   When you renew your insurance make sure you have personal legal protection in your house policy.  As I mentioned I did not specialise in PI but I have managed to check with some of my colleagues in London and they have confirmed they bare all the costs.   I recommend you get all your documents out and go through them in detail, check where they have mentioned you must pay any costs and if it is not present contact them and demand the return of your 950.  I will watch this page and if I can help you I will do so, I am only here helping friends to settle an estate, the solicitors they contacted told them the probate would cost 3500 euro and up to 3 years!  RUBBISH.   I must admit there are MANY unscrupulous Solicitors in UK too, not as many as there are in Spain though.

So why do the lawyers have to sit a bar exam then to join the Royal collage of Abagardos before they can legally practice and also be struck off for mal practice and then not be able to legally practice ?

my lads got a law degree and is 90 % through a masters degree  with honors.....but he carnt practice until he has done the bar exam  next march .

to take the bar exam you need a law degree,a law masters degree,the bar exam course..... and then....the bar exam....passing

then you can apply to join the Royal collage of Abagardos and you get your number.

lawyer now are looking at a min uni study time of....7 years before they get there stripes

the oni upside is for us once he gets his stripes,he can do the uk law society course.... and get double stripes once he has done the 4k transfer course for English law,which saves on having to have a uk lawyers training contract with a law firm....because there very limited to get and a lot of law grades never end up as practicing lawyers because they carnt get training contracts .

QLTS  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWOcpCbbfJg

[MAZ4929]

Came across this recently on the Citizen Advice website and has some vey interesting information that maybe you are not aware of 

“No win, no fee, known in Spain as ‘Cuota Litis’.

When agreeing to this this type of contract, the client should clearly understand the type of agreement that he is entering into before signing the engagement letter.

Lawyers who will usually offer this fee condition will only do so when they are confident of the outcome. (Please note that the lawyer will be paying court costs and barristers fees and consider his and the time of his staff.)

There are some facts that a client should take into consideration when entering into this type of legal agreement. Many clients are confused when reading the contract and note that if they lose the case or if the other side is not sentenced to pay court cost and or other fees, that the client could be liable.

This contingency fee agreement means that you enter into an agreement with the lawyer who takes on your case on the condition that; if you lose you should pay the costs. The lawyer takes the risk that he will not be paid and will almost always have covered the court costs and the attorney fees. To date I am not aware if there is an insurance in Spain that a client could take out to cover this eventuality as there is in the UK.

Fees will normally be gaged on a percentage of what you recover. Remember that you are also paying for the lawyers’ success and the fact that he/she will be using their money to pay any costs in advance. There could also be a team of lawyers involved and their time is also money.

Spanish lawyers do not enter into to this type of pact lightly.

If you are entering into a conditional fee arrangement and you need advice or clarification you can contact Citizens Advice Bureau Spain.”

[Rtis]

This Selina person is spouting off and has NO knowledge of the system over here !! I think Amanda is correct when asking if the person is fishing !!

[Selina]

Thanks for the reply Selina.

No, we certainly weren't conned into giving these unscrupulous bastards a â,¬950 fee.

How can they get away with it?  Well, it's the "legal" profession so I suppose they can.....

In Spain they can get away with it because they do not have the Law Society equiv., in UK they would get struck off, on the PI side many op close to the wind, you must be a certain kind of person to do PI, personally I could not do it and I would recommend you to never use a No Win No fee Solicitor, in the US they are referred to as ambulance chasers and that expression is accurate.   When you renew your insurance make sure you have personal legal protection in your house policy.  As I mentioned I did not specialise in PI but I have managed to check with some of my colleagues in London and they have confirmed they bare all the costs.   I recommend you get all your documents out and go through them in detail, check where they have mentioned you must pay any costs and if it is not present contact them and demand the return of your 950.  I will watch this page and if I can help you I will do so, I am only here helping friends to settle an estate, the solicitors they contacted told them the probate would cost 3500 euro and up to 3 years!  RUBBISH.   I must admit there are MANY unscrupulous Solicitors in UK too, not as many as there are in Spain though.

[Selina]

Hi

Just wanted to add my comments to this thread...... In a case of medical negligence (which is currently being looked into), the Lawyer I am using, has confirmed that if there is a viable claim, his work would be no win, no fee. However...... to present the case to the Courts, there are costs relating to "Procuradores" (Court Clerks / Paralegals), which do need to be paid at the start.

Do not see why this should be an issue if work is being carried out ????
No win no fee in the UK means that the legal firms are taking a massive percentage if cases are won ???? IMHO ...........
Selina.... not sure why Estate Agents figure in this post ???

You are WRONG, when UK solicitors work on no win no fee they bare the costs!   As I mentioned in one of my comments if the lady has house insurance she may have personal legal cover and she will not pay one cent at all, naturally the solicitors will try to get her to take an offer so they can get paid quicker my advice stick it out.   There are MANY solicitors who are unscrupulous in PI but there are more in Spain so I understand.   

[Amanda Oakley]

Hi

Just wanted to add my comments to this thread...... In a case of medical negligence (which is currently being looked into), the Lawyer I am using, has confirmed that if there is a viable claim, his work would be no win, no fee. However...... to present the case to the Courts, there are costs relating to "Procuradores" (Court Clerks / Paralegals), which do need to be paid at the start.

Do not see why this should be an issue if work is being carried out ????
No win no fee in the UK means that the legal firms are taking a massive percentage if cases are won ???? IMHO ...........
Selina.... not sure why Estate Agents figure in this post ???
Regards

[byrney]

Thanks for the reply Selina.

No, we certainly weren't conned into giving these unscrupulous bastards a â,¬950 fee.

How can they get away with it?  Well, it's the "legal" profession so I suppose they can.....

[Selina]

Has anyone successfully claimed medical negligence in Spain using the "no win, no fee" system?

We apparently have a clear cut case (according to a certain company).

However, having spent hours on the phone going through our case, and confirming that we do have a viable case, they have asked for a â,¬950 "consultation" fee!

Solicitors - even in Spain, are they the scum of the earth?

Having said that, does anyone know of any firm of solicitors who might offer to take on this case on a genuine no win, no fee basis?

I missed this part of your message, did you sign an agreement to pay them the 950 euro   You can  dispute it and demand its return, they will prob. ignore you because they will know they have broken the law! they advertised "No Win No Fee", thus you did not win!   We were always advised never to communicate verbally, always in writing, if you need further communication only do so by email, many companies ie SOLICITORS AND EXSPECIALLY ESTATE AGENTS HATE email communication  for obvious reasons

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[Selina]

Thank you so much Amanda.  Brilliant as ever.  Will reply tomorrow.

Do you have House Buildings Insurance, look at the policy because many have personal legal protection cover and many clients do not even remember agreeing to it, they generally charge about £10 more for it and it is worth every penny, my friend did and she won almost £100,000 for medical negligence, I would be wary of using no win no fee solicitors, I would definitely not use a criminal  lawyer, they will take the case because in Spain they will but they do not have the expertise, Med Neg is serious legal work, I have not heard of pro bono in Spain!   When I was at University we did a lot of Pro Bono.  I have been looking at this web site for a few months now and those who offer legal assistance will not even give their fees on line which I find odd and they appear to want to use PM rather than provide the information up front, I fail to comprehend why the information cannot be published, it would not affect paid business it is more likely to encourage it.   As you prob know there is no law society in Spain, there ought to be because many of the so called  abogada/o here would be expelled, they need to be controlled,  there are many unethical parasites, I have been stunned to hear many of the experiences many expats have encountered and continue to do so.  Good Luck!

[byrney]

Thank you so much Amanda.  Brilliant as ever.  Will reply tomorrow.

[Amanda Oakley]

See email....

[Amanda Oakley]

PM sent

[byrney]

Hi Amanda,

We are clutching at straws at the moment as the bill for further surgery is totally outside our means, so any assistance you might be able to give would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Paul

[Amanda Oakley]

Hi

Not sure if I can help but I have recently met a local lawyer who just deals with criminal and civil cases..... I am not sure if his experience extends to medical negligence, but it costs me nothing to ask him if of use ???
Regards

[byrney]

Has anyone successfully claimed medical negligence in Spain using the "no win, no fee" system?

We apparently have a clear cut case (according to a certain company).

However, having spent hours on the phone going through our case, and confirming that we do have a viable case, they have asked for a â,¬950 "consultation" fee!

Solicitors - even in Spain, are they the scum of the earth?

Having said that, does anyone know of any firm of solicitors who might offer to take on this case on a genuine no win, no fee basis?