In brief
Law firms may face negligence suits if they fail to advise people who have been injured by reckless pedestrians or cyclists that they might be eligible to receive an award from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), warns Andrew Campbell, head of the motorcycle law unit at Withy King. He predicts an increase in professional negligence cases after receiving an instruction to investigate a claim against a firm for damages for the lost chance of an award. Campbell was instructed after his client read about his “chicken” case, in which he successfully argued that a motorcyclist injured when he hit a boy playing chicken was a victim of a “crime of violence” and entitled to compensation.