Legal Costs

Most people we talk to about personal injury* cases are understandably unclear about the process of making a personal injury* claim and frightened of the potential costs of bringing a claim.

In Ireland, as in the UK, the unsuccessful party in a personal injury* or accident claim case usually has to pay for the costs on both sides. (The USA has a different system.)

This means that if you are successful in your case, the defendant has to pay your costs. The responsibility for the plaintiff’s costs rest with you, but in the normal course of events in a successful case you would claim them from the defendant and they would be given to you on top of your personal injury* award. These costs would cover professional fees to the solicitor, barristers and experts for all work done in your case, and any money your solicitor has paid out on your behalf  towards securing a successful claim.

Some costs are not routinely covered, and these include a portion of the witnesses’ and in particular, expert witnesses’ expenses. You may more than likely will have to pay these sums out of the compensation awarded, or otherwise out of your own pocket.

However, it is important to realise that most cases never reach court. Personal injury* claims can often be made without the need for a trial.  If this happens you will be saved from having to give evidence, and from the stress of additional delays, travel and time spent on something you’d prefer to put behind you.

If your solicitors are able to reach a settlement agreement with the other side and they agree to compensate you fairly for your injuries, the agreement will normally include paying your costs as they realise they would have had to pay these anyway had a trial proceeded. Settlement also means you can avoid many of the witness and expert witness fees in the case. For all of  these reasons, settlement is often considered the best possible outcome and one most reputable solicitors will strive for, depending on the details of your case.

It is important to discuss the financing of the case with your solicitor at the beginning of the case. Your solicitor is accustomed to solving the financing problems that routinely arise in personal injury* cases and should be able to help you.