A question that victims of dog attacks often ask is, ‘Do I need advice from a specialist dog bite solicitor?’
As a firm of solicitors specialising in dog bite compensation claims it will not come as any surprise to find that we think dog bite claims should be handled by expert lawyers. This is why you need advice from a specialist dog bite solicitor.
First and foremost it needs to be appreciated that when it comes to animals the law is very different to that which applies to most injury claims. Dog bite claims are governed by a specific piece of legislation, known as the Animals Act. This Act is notoriously difficult to interpret. So much so that it even leaves many lawyers confused! As a result, solicitors dealing with injuries inflicted by dogs often give their clients the wrong advice. As a consequence they miss out on the compensation they would be entitled to.
James McNally is a specialist dog bite solicitor. He knows just how complex the law is and what can go wrong if a claim is dealt with by a general legal practitioner who does not specialise in animal cases. During his career James has been called upon numerous times to help victims out when their own lawyers have been left wanting.
He recalls one particular dog bite victim for whom he recovered £30,000. ‘The client came to me after his solicitors told him he had no claim’, explains James. ‘If he had not obtained a second opinion he would have lost out completely.’ You can read the full story here.
This was no isolated case. James can reel off a series of claims he has successfully made on behalf of victims who were badly advised. This list of cases includes a man whose reaction to dog bite injuries medication resulted in a £36,000 compensation award after his first solicitors rejected his claim and a 9-year-old who received £35,000 for significant scarring having been told by not one but two solicitors that she had no legal case.
‘The problem of solicitors providing victims with bad advice crops up so regularly that I am no longer surprised when I come across another case of it’, says James.
‘Solicitors who deal with personal injury claims often fail to appreciate that different law applies to incidents involving animals, or if they know about the law, they do not fully understand how it should be applied. I dread to think how many innocent victims go uncompensated every year as a result.’
Accordingly, James is in little doubt that victims should always seek legal advice from a specialist dog bite solicitor.
We offer a free legal helpline and if we think the case has merit then we will deal with it on a No Win, No Fee basis. So if you have been the victim of a dog attack and want to know whether you can claim compensation then speak to James. You have nothing to lose by calling, but a great deal to lose by not going to an expert. Call 0333 888 0435 or email [email protected]