APIL rebuts letter in Daily Express
APIL has rebutted a letter in national newspaper about the so-called "compensation culture" and legal aid.
Chief executive Denise Kitchener explained in a letter to the Daily Express that legal aid had played a vital role in providing access to justice for the some of the most vulnerable victims of clinical negligence. The letter follows below and is available on the APIL website:
re: Letter ‘Damages culture is out of control thanks to legal aid’ (7 February 2011 Daily Express)
Sir,
Legal aid plays a vital role in providing access to justice for some of the most vulnerable victims of clinical negligence, such as babies born with brain damage because of medical errors, who have no other means to bring about a claim.
Plans to cut legal aid funding for clinical negligence cases, of which the total cost amounts to less than one per cent (£17m) of the overall legal aid budget (£2.2bn) should first examine the immeasurable value which it brings to society by providing access to justice for the needy and making the NHS accountable to those whose lives are shattered by its negligence.
Yours sincerely,
Denise Kitchener
Chief executive
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)
