MDDUS PROFILE


Support at the sharp end


In the third of a series of profiles featuring MDDUS professionals Jim Killgore speaks with in-house solicitor James Doake on his work with members facing clinical negligence claims


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AMES Doake brought a unique perspective to the job of in-house solicitor at MDDUS when he started in 2008 – that of an adversary.


In the eight years aſter starting out in law in 2000


(formally qualifying in 2006), James worked exclusively for claimant solicitors doing family law, personal injury cases and later representing patients pursuing clinical negligence cases against doctors and dentists. His “change of allegiance” – not untypical of solicitors working for medical and dental defence organisations – offered the Union valuable insight into the way claimant solicitors operate in pursuing clinical damages on behalf of clients. “It’s useful to understand the sort of pressures claimant


solicitors are under in terms of funding and how they run a claim. And what pressures they will be under from their client as well,” says James. “I think I also know better when a claimant is trying it on – just doing a hopeful letter of claim to see if anything comes back.” Clinical negligence can be a rich source of revenue for


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law firms working on “no win no fee” agreements (also known as conditional fee agreements or CFAs) with the basic principle being that a client is not charged by a solicitor for time spent working on a claim unless it is successfully settled or won in court. “A firm might investigate 10 claims but only advance


three or four of them because the others fall short of the necessary legal liabilities,” says James. “So you know the cases they do advance have to make a lot of money. Oſten defendants don’t appreciate why legal fees can be so high.”


Dual interests It is the job of James and the other solicitors at MDDUS to assess alleged clinical negligence claims against our members and decide on the best course of action in answering these claims. Sometimes the legal and clinical details of such cases can be very complex. Certainly a basic understanding of biological processes can be a help in medical or dental cases.


SUMMONS


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