Shifting from principle to practicality, financial compensation is usually essential for those – including us, our friends and family – whose lives are marred, even ruined, by the transformative injuries they suffer at the hands of others, and who – through no fault of their own – find themselves suddenly unable to work, unable to go about their normal daily lives and, in the most serious cases, unable even to care for themselves.” ” The contrary argument is almost never advanced: namely that a legal system providing justice and fair financial recompense for those injured through the fault of others is an historically accepted hallmark of a fair society which benefits us all. SB looks at the notion that there is a “compensation culture” and that compensation is somehow wrong and anti-social. In doing so, we resourced the arsenal of those now waging war on personal-injury rights “ “COMPENSATION CULTURE”: COMPENSATION IS NOT A “WIN” The fraudsters and rogues may well be the unrepresentative minority, but we allowed them to be seen as representative. Instead, we surrendered the battlefield to the minority spivs and charlatans, whether because we were happy to take home the marginal trickle-down benefits or because of complacency.

“ “The notion that compensation automatically attaches to every accident that wasn’t your fault, rather than being predicated on nuanced legal concepts of liability, causation and provable losses, is one the legal profession should have been better at refuting. “Spend half an hour with a personal-injury lawyer (should such a misfortune befall you) and you will be regaled with ways in which the law and procedure can be improved. The book is also realistic in that the legal profession must also shoulder part of the blame. It takes a critical look at the way in which “compensation culture” has been whipped up, to the disadvantage of the injured. Here are selected extracts from the chapter on “Your Health”. The Secret Barrister has written their second book “Fake Law”, looking at many of the misconceptions that surround the legal system.

Fake Law by The Secret Barrister