If you’re thinking about making a public liability claim in NSW, this guide will help you understand the public liability claims process and how to choose the best public liability lawyers to suit your needs.
If you’ve been injured in a public place or building, you may be entitled to public liability compensation. For more information, read our guide to public liability claims in NSW.
A public liability lawyer (or public liability solicitor) is actually a personal injury lawyer who specialises in public liability claims and will pursue your claim of your behalf. It’s important to understand that when you make a public liability claim you’re actually claiming against the public liability insurer, so you’ll have a much better chance of success if you have a good public liability lawyer on your side.
Here are four questions to help you choose the best public liability lawyer for your claim:
Choose a lawyer who specialises in public liability compensation claims, as opposed to a lawyer who handles a range of other claim types (such as car accident and workers compensation claims). A specialist public liability lawyer will have more experience with claims like yours and is likely to have a more thorough understanding of public liability law.
If you choose a public liability lawyer who offers a no win no fee agreement, be sure to look at the fine print. Some lawyers will still make you pay their costs (referred to as disbursements) if they don’t win your case. Choose a public liability lawyer who gives you a guarantee that you won’t have to pay anything if they don’t win.
Some public liability lawyers may not fund some of the medical reports needed as evidence for your case, travel expenses or court fees. Other public liability lawyers may fund these costs but charge you interest on them. Choose a public liability lawyer who will fund all your costs and not charge you any interest on them.
If you form a close working relationship with your public liability lawyer you’re more likely to get a good result in your claim. A good lawyer will take time to get to know you, your family and what your life was like prior to your accident, to form a full picture of how your life has been affected. When you’re choosing a lawyer, try to get a sense of how well they listen, and whether they’re showing genuine interest in you and your personal needs.
Here’s an overview of how most public liability lawyers in Sydney work:
A specialist lawyer will review your circumstances and tell you how much you can claim.
The public liability lawyer will provide you with a costs agreement to sign before taking on your claim. It’s important to understand the fee structure before you sign their costs agreement – here are some things you should know:
*Disbursements are costs incurred by the law firm in the course of running your personal injury claim.
You might have seen ads for ‘slip and fall’ or ‘slip, trip and fall’ lawyers. These are just other names for a public liability lawyers, used because a large number of public liability claims are for slip and fall injuries. For example, a common claim is for slipping and falling on a wet floor in a supermarket.
It is possible to make a claim without using a lawyer, however it’s important to understand that you will be making your claim against an insurance company that does have lawyers on its side. So you’ll have a much better chance of success and you’re likely to get a much better compensation payout if you have a good public liability lawyer on your side.
Public Liability Lawyers in NSW – show me a public liability lawyer near me.
Michele Cheong
Partner
A Doyle’s Guide listed personal injury law professional with 37 years of experience in the legal sector, Michele is a Partner at Law Partners specialising in complicated medical negligence and public liability cases.
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