I was abused at a dyslexic school in Suffolk in 1997. A conviction of 6 years was reached for the abuser at the Ipswich Crown court. And was awarded 12,000 pounds for mental anguish, and my mother father were also given 12,000 for lost school fee’s and air fairs, but what they claimed for was 50,000. However I feel that 12,000 pounds is not enough, to make up for my lost childhood. I have been trying to find out if I have recourse for a seconder claim. And have been using a well known law firm ( small but well known ) but have been very unhappy with there service. In 8 months all that has been done is write too the old school and that is it. (I found out >>)The school was sold in 1998. The lawyer told me, it was most likely that there was nothing too be done. However I tracked down the ex-owner myself from Australia as well as the school’s lawyers at time, I also had to hire a PI to help confirm my finding. I don’t feel I should have had to do this, as I am the client. They ignore my questions and instructions regarding my case. And for every 6 emails I send them I get one very short one back. I am doing more running around here in Australia then they are in the UK. Now ….know one knows if a full and final statement was ever sighed. As I was 13 at the time. My lawyer’s legal aid said she did not think it would be a problem if it had been sighed as I was under the age of 18. A media exclusion contract was sighed ( it was for 5 years ) but that is all, that my mother and father can remember, witch they felt forced to sigh as it was. We did not have proper legal advise, having been recommended to a firm, but where told they would not take on the case, but would be there in a supportive roll only. Funny they still sent us the bill! We found out some time after that they were not child abuse experts and were more corporate lawyers then anything. All our documents where lost when we moved to Australia, witch has slowed things down. However the old school lawyers have full copy’s, witch my lawyers are meant to be requesting, but it has been 2 weeks and has heard nothing at all.
I am now 25 , MY Lawyers contacted me via facebook , asking for info on abuse of a school by the same name but in Norfolk. I was with in my statute. And my mind had only just turned to litigation.
I have written to 8 different abuse claimant lawyer firms to ask for a second opinion . Is there anything more that I should/ could be doing ???
Are you thinking about selling your home yourself? then
Having read this and, briefly, having read some of your other questions I have to say that I really cannot see where you hope a claim will come from.
I am not actually sure that your lawyers have accepted you as a client because on another question you have stated that there has been no exchange of paperwork or anything. In England, if a firm takes you on as a client then they MUST send you a copy of their terms and conditions, a client care letter and ask you for ID. If you are on a no win no fee deal then they must send you a copy of the CFA. Is it possible that you have misunderstood what is happening and that they actually haven’t taken on your claim at all? That is what it sounds like to me.
With regards to your claim I am curious as to how you got the original £12,000. Was it awarded to you in Court or was it negotiated? As you were a minor and therefore unable to conduct litigation, who was your litigation friend?
In any event consider the following;
1. Once an award has been made in full and final settlement then that is it. You will not get that settlement overturned (certainly not for the reasons you set out). You cannot bring a fresh claim.
2. If the award was made by the Court then you cannot now, many years later dispute the amount.
3. If the award was negotiated then, as a minor, it will have been approved by the Court at an infant settlement hearing and you cannot now dispute the amount.
4. Throughout the course of the original litigation you will have had a litigation friend (probably your parents). They will have approved the settlement on your behalf.
5. Given your particular circumstances any claims will now be statute barred.
I think that you suggest (here and in other questions) that your lawyers were the ones who first contacted you. I do not know how they will have got in touch with you personally but in late 2008 there was a change in the law which meant that people who had abuse claims which were time barred could now claim (this change does NOT affect you). This probably caused a few law firms to start sniffing out the new business.
Sorry to be so negative but perhaps you should consider the possibility that the reason you are getting no response from your lawyers and the other firms you write to is because you do not have a claim.
What you really need to do before anything else is clarify what the relationship is between you and your lawyers. You need to, preferably in writing, ask them straight out if they have accepted you as a client and if they are pursuing your claim.
If they say yes then ask them for a client care letter, cfa (if applicable) and terms and conditions to be sent to you. If they say no, then that is why they appear not to be doing much. If they say that they are not sure or are still investigating then tell them that is not good enough.
Hope this helps, even if it is not necessarily what you want to hear.
Wow this was probably one of the best articles I have go over on the topic so far. I do not have any idea where you get all your information but up! I am gunna send a few folks on over to take a look at this post. Fantastic, totally awesome.