Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (www.apil.org.uk) is a not for profit organisation which campaigns on behalf of its members. APIL has around 4700 members which consist of barristers, solicitors and legal executives and tries to change the legal structure surrounding personal injury to meet the needs of this group of people and for the public who are victims of personal injury and wish to make a claim. The main aims of APIL include making sure that the people who fight for justice for victims of personal injury are well trained and treat their clients with fairness and integrity. They hope to drive up the standards in the sector and they choose not to make money from doing so. They especially do not want to appear to make money from sick and injured people. As part of achieving these aims, APIL works with a number of charities including those who help people rebuild their lives after injury or bereavement. Together they campaign the government to make changes to laws to benefit their members and for those who are affected by personal injuries. 
The changes to the bill which went through in May 2012 mean that many of the people who currently have access to no win no fee lawyers would experience changes to the way their legal fees are paid. In addition those who are entitled to legal aid would be further restricted. The new rules also state that claims for less than £5,000 would need to go through small claims court, despite people being ill equipped when they have been injured to do this. In fact according to a survey conducted by APIL, more than 65% of people would not pursue a case unless they had the help of a solicitor. APIL did manage to get the government to accept that those who are making claims for asbestos poisoning would be able to use the "no win no fee" system unchanged until a full review was completed to find out what the full impact on the victims would be. Karl Tonks, the president of APIL has stated in the press that he also wishes to make changes to how insurers react to compensation cases. He points out that they often make the injured person wait, incurring significant costs before they agree on a payment being made. He describes this as a "terrible dysfunction". He has suggested that injured people be treated as individuals rather than statistics and that a fund of last resort, funded by the insurance industry, would be an acceptable way to ensure compensation is paid when due. APIL say that they take their campaigns to the very top of government and do whatever they can to fight for justice for the public. Through their list of accredited lawyers they are able to provide support when people need it the most.  |
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