Greedy Pigs

The emergence of the ambulance chasing lawyer culture in the UK was entirely avoidable (simply don't let lawyers advertise in the media), but also was entirely predictable .... 

Ambulance Chaser

They saw the riches that a claim compensation culture like the USA's has brought to the legal profession, where according to the American Bar Association's 2020 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession, there are currently about 1.3 million lawyers in the US. Specifically, 4 lawyers for every 1,000 residents in the US i.e. 400 per 100k, and approximately 208,200 people workings as solicitors or lawyers in the United Kingdom in 2023 i.e. 226 per 100k residents.

We have all seen the 'no win, no charge' TV and media adverts, and the variations on that theme, that various legal firms employ, to entice people to find or imagine an injury or slight, and then make a claim .... one of the latest big thing being late council house repairs (as if our local authorities can afford to pay damages) and today I got an email inviting me to claim against the manufacturers of the weed killer Roundup.

Ambulance Chasing Culture - Roundup Claim

The law firms usually get away with these practises, because its often cheaper to pay off the claim, than fight it in court. Of course the cost of all this is now built in to charges for products and services, so we all pay for this in the long term. 

However I was drawn to comment on this, when reading a couple of years ago inn 2021 that a man from Malton North Yorkshire was reported as one of a number of people claiming that they had developed Salmonella after eating a packet of 'Pork Scratchings' (a dried Pork Rind snack with pork flavouring), from a factory in Bolton, Lancashire. The familiar legal names of Leigh Day and Irwin Mitchell were both linked to any possible legal actions (if they went ahead .... as usual there are no reports of whether any case resulted in the investigation).

As a result of the claims, the Tayto Group Ltd took the precautionary step of recalling some of its products. Damages are being claimed by those affected. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), reported that testing has found a link to 176 reported cases of salmonella poisoning across the UK between September 2020 and August 2021, while Public Health England has confirmed it was aware of 12 people needing hospital treatment after claiming it was Pork Scratchings that gave them the Salmonella.

Now whatever the rights or wrongs of these claims, and that's for the courts/lawyers to determine, I couldn't help think that 30 years ago this would likely have resulted in an apology, a token for £50 and a box of products from the company, with nary a lawyer in sight, Now though, this will cost many thousands of pounds, with the lawyers raking it in, and even the possibility of the family owned Tayto Group going bust .... welcome to the modern world.

Another case also came to my attention. Bernard Ovu was drunk after leaving a wedding party. He went to a London tube station and fell down some fire escape stairs in a staff only area of the station, and died. His family tried to sue the London Underground for £300,000 compensation on the grounds that there were not enough staff on site to stop him wandering on to the fire escape (its not known why he did so, but the assumption that he did so to get some air, or was under the influence, seems possible).

However the judge ruled that by leaving the public tube area, Mr Ovu was "unlawfully trespassing" and that his trespasser status had meant that station authorities no longer owed him a duty of care. Why did this go to court ... well apparently it was a 'test case', presumably brought by a legal firm to see if this opened up another claims avenue.

What's particularly interesting about this legal ruling is that it suggest that doing something illegally or wrongfully, means that you lose some legal protection as a result of those actions ..... does this now apply to burglars or those fleeing from the police?

One aspect of this last case reminded me of The Simpson's character Moe Szyslak: "Remember that time I tried to hang myself and the rope broke? Well I sued the rope company and got a huge settlement" .... this appears to be the mindset of some these days.