header-logo header-logo

16 April 2014 / Jeff Zindani
Issue: 7603 / Categories: Opinion , Costs , Personal injury
printer mail-detail

Weighted dice

Routinely inflating success fees to get the magic 25% is courting disaster, warns Jeff Zindani

I have presented a series of seminars on the business consequences of the Jackson reforms and have probably lectured to more than 200 lawyers, many of whom are partners or directors in small to medium sized personal injury firms.

A year into the reforms, my concern has been not with the politics of the reforms (what is happening at the coalface is more important), but making sense of how they affect personal injury practices and how they are responding to the changes. My overall message is that personal injury work for claimant lawyers can still be profitable, but firms must “retool” to cope with the largely fixed costs landscape.

Much of this is set out in my book with Professor Dominic Regan on Surviving Jackson (2013, Sun Legal Publishing). In the words of Peter Drucker: “The organisations likely to suffer the most are those with the delusion that tomorrow will be like yesterday.”

I am upbeat about this area

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Anthony Collins—20 promotions

Anthony Collins—20 promotions

20 promotions mark major people investment at national law firm, Anthony Collins

Sidley—Elaine Whiteford

Sidley—Elaine Whiteford

Sidley adds competition litigator Elaine Whiteford in London

Charles Russell Speechlys—Claudina D’Costa

Charles Russell Speechlys—Claudina D’Costa

Charles Russell Speechlys welcomes Claudina D’Costa as Director of Client Development Marketing

NEWS
The 25th Pro Bono Week begins today until 6 November, with events hosted by law firms, chambers, law schools and charities across the UK
Aggressive sales tactics can add up to fraudulent trading even without proof of a particular deception or financial loss
Judges risk weakening their own independence by staying silent over government reforms, a leading public lawyer argues
A discount on damages does not automatically mean an equivalent haircut for legal costs in military deafness claims
Police powers targeting concealed identities at protests come with procedural conditions that could determine whether prosecutions succeed
back-to-top-scroll