Should I consider specialising in personal injury law as a career? 

Not too long ago, there was a time when almost every high street solicitors firm offered ‘personal injury claims’ as one of their services, alongside conveyancing, probate, wills, family law and debt recovery.

Over the past few years, legislative changes have made it less viable for solicitors to handle lower-value personal injury cases for clients and, in the case of whiplash injuries suffered by those involved in road traffic accidents, not viable at all.

As a result, some multi-disciplinary law firms have decided to stop taking on new personal injury cases and to transfer their existing caseloads (with each client’s permission) to other personal injury firms. At the same time, a number of smaller PI firms have merged with national solicitors’ practices.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom by any means. Other personal injury firms are bucking the trend by embracing the changes and adapting their working models accordingly. There is still considerable demand for the services of specialist personal injury solicitors. People still suffer injuries in accidents caused by other parties every day, and they need the services of first-class personal injury lawyers.

So, in effect, personal injury is now becoming a niche area of law and one that those seeking to enter the legal profession should still consider as a long-term career for reasons we shall now explore in more detail.

Why become a personal injury lawyer?

The work of a personal injury solicitor is wide and varied

As a personal injury lawyer working in a niche personal injury firm, you may need to work on a wide variety of accident types involving clients whose injuries range from relatively minor injuries; muscular strains,  cuts, burns, bruises, or chipped bones to serious injuries involving life-changing injuries. Occasionally, your client will be the next of kin of a fatal accident victim.

You will deal with clients who’ve been knocked down whilst crossing the road and motorcyclists knocked from their bikes by drivers who failed to give way. Your services will be sought by the victims of accidents at work and those who’ve suffered slip, trip or fall accidents on broken pavements or through slipping on the wet floor of a shopping mall.

You might need to visit your client in hospital because they have suffered serious injuries in a road traffic accident. The breadth of issues that fall under the banner of ‘personal injury claims’ is indeed broad.

On the other hand, the firm you join may only specialise in certain types of injury claims, such as catastrophic injury claims that take years to settle or be decided on at court and where the final compensation settlement you achieve for your client runs into millions of pounds.

It’s fair to say that no two claims OR clients are the same.

For all these reasons and more, personal injury litigation work is such an exciting area of law. Once it’s got its claws into you, you’ll never want to do anything else!

You Want to Help Others?

The law is about assisting others, so what’s so special about helping out those injured in accidents that weren’t their fault?

Well, there’s something uniquely satisfying about helping another human being to recover compensation from the person, company, organisation or public body responsible for causing an accident that led to your client suffering an injury.

Some personal injury solicitors describe this feeling as :

‘Wanting to help put right, a wrong.’

A personal injury claim aims to try to put the injured accident victim back into the position they were in immediately before the accident caused by the defendant.

Whilst monetary compensation can’t erase the fact that an accident happened, it’s the next best thing!

For instance, take the case of an accident that results in your client receiving such severe injuries that they will require lifelong care and treatment. A significant enough compensation settlement will ensure your client gets the best care and treatment possible for the rest of their life.

Competitive Remuneration  

The financial rewards for personal injury lawyers are reasonable, with average salaries in the UK ranging from £40,833 to £57,201 per annum. Factors influencing income include location, experience, and the type of employer.

Additionally, many personal injury solicitors receive additional benefits such as private healthcare, pensions, and bonuses, enhancing their overall compensation package.

It’s not uncommon for experienced personal injury solicitors to earn six-figure salaries, with the aid of bonuses related to the amount of fees the solicitor bills.

You’ll be continuously developing your knowledge  

Personal injury law is a mixture of statute and common law. The pre-action protocols and the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) govern how personal injury claims are conducted. Rules and protocols get amended and updated. New personal injury case law precedents are set regularly.

Then there are the rules on legal costs, which, as mentioned in the introduction to this article, have recently undergone a radical overhaul, and lawyers are still coming to terms with them.

If you believe you would be the type of person who needs to be up to date with every latest rule and precedent affecting their law sector, you could make a great personal injury lawyer.

What are the skills needed to become a great personal injury lawyer?

• Ability to build a rapport with clients

Claimant PI lawyers must possess or develop the personal skills required to build a good rapport with clients. If a lawyer demonstrates humility, empathy, and an ability to listen to their client and provide concise, knowledgeable answers to their questions, it will go a long way towards getting the client-lawyer relationship off on the right foot.

• Empathy with your client’s situation

Empathy plays a pivotal role in many areas of the legal profession, especially personal injury law. Empathy with your client is more than just understanding their case; it’s about connecting on a human level and recognising the emotional strain clients are likely to be under following an accident. Balancing empathy with professional detachment is vital to avoid emotional burnout.

• Effective communication skills

A solicitor’s ability to explain complex legal processes in simple terms and keep the client informed at every step will go a long way to building a client’s complete trust in their lawyer.

• Negotiation skills

The majority of personal injury claims get resolved without going to court. Statistics indicate that approximately 97% of cases are settled by negotiation. Therefore, personal injury solicitors must become effective negotiators.

• Ability to be a team player

Solicitors who work well within a team tend to become better lawyers as a result. Personal injury lawyers should be open to sharing ideas, tactics, problems and solutions with their colleagues. Trainees or newly qualified lawyers can learn so much from more experienced colleagues.

• Personal time management

Busy personal injury lawyers regularly find themselves spinning plates, so they need to learn to manage their time effectively to stop the plates from crashing to the floor.

What are the downsides of being a personal injury lawyer?

• Dealing with your opponent

As a claimant personal injury solicitor, you will regularly deal with lawyers instructed by defendants’ insurance companies.

You will build better relationships with some defendant solicitors than others. You will ‘lock horns’ with some (and they with you). You’ll try not to let it get to you, but it will sometimes get stressful, even if only through the attritional effect of almost daily verbal or email’ jousting’ with the other side. Develop a thick skin for those occasions; stay professional but stick to your principles, and you’ll come out on the right side more than not!

Nevertheless, there are still times when you’ll go home cursing your opponent!

• Handling stressed clients

Being involved in an accident is a stressful experience. The severity of the accident, the injuries suffered by your client, and the additional difficulties they are experiencing due to the incident can, at times, be overwhelming for them.

Sometimes, you will bear the brunt of their frustrations, even when you have done everything possible.

• You lose a case

From time to time, this may happen. You will run a case to trial, and your client will lose. It’s never a good feeling, even when your conduct of the case was beyond reproach. You’ll get back up, dust yourself down and fight another day – but the feeling is unpleasant for as long as it lasts.

• Being a personal injury solicitor can be emotionally draining

You will share the ups and downs of your clients’ post-accident lives.

For example, when you act for clients with life-changing injuries, it’s hard not to become so committed to the case and their well-being and rehabilitation that you end up sharing both the ups and the downs the client experiences.

When your clients are struggling financially or going through a challenging period in their recovery, you’ll be there for them, but it will also take a toll on you.

Emotionally, this can be draining for you and the client, so learning to detach when you leave the office is vital, and learning some  stress management techniques may help you in this regard.

And finally….

If you are contemplating a career as a personal injury lawyer, you will need to prepare yourself for a job that is as challenging as it is fulfilling.

Make no mistake: a career as a personal injury solicitor will not be a cakewalk. One minute, you may be consoling the family of a fatal accident victim, and the next, donning your thick-skin suit to attempt to negotiate settlement of a case with a lawyer on behalf of the defendant’s insurers.

You’ll need to keep up to date with changes in the law and search out new precedents to stay on top of your game.

Hard work is a pre-requisite, but you’ll develop skills that will boost your confidence in all aspects of your life.

As you stand on the threshold of your new career, think of the path of a personal injury solicitor as not only a profession but also a vocation, offering you the chance to make tangible, positive changes in the lives of all those people you are about to start helping!