Protected parties are those who are considered by the court system to be unable to understand the legal process fully and who require assistance. This assistance is in the form of a litigation friend - a responsible adult (usually a relative or a friend) who can act on the client's behalf in their best interests.
There are two main groups of protected parties:
Cases involving children
Children cannot take a legal claim by themselves and they proceed with the benefit of a litigation friend until they reach the age of 18 when they can legally make decisions and enter into contracts themselves.
Cases involving children have specific issues which need to be considered. Children are very unlikely to be considered appropriate to give evidence, may be unable to inform medical or other staff what happened during an accident or identify who else was involved. Very young children may not be able to inform people of the full extent of their injuries. In addition, caring for young children who have been injured may be time consuming for families and expensive.
We are able to advise about how to proceed with a claim on behalf of a child causing the least amount of distress or disruption to the child and family. As far as is practical, we will locate and instruct experts who have particular expertise in dealing with children.
if full proceedings are necessary we can advise fully about the role of a litigation friend within the court system.
In most claims cases involving children, the level of compensation has to be approved by a judge. This is usually an informal hearing but nevertheless important since the court has to be satisfied that the level of compensation is sufficient for the injuries and losses sustained. There are some cases where this is not possible (for example, where there is an untraced driver in an accident) but in the majority of cases court involvement is required.
Compensation for children is paid into court at the conclusion of the case until the child reaches 18. It is possible for some small interim payments to be paid out of court in certain circumstances and we can advise whether this would be possible.
People who do not have capacity
In some cases victims of accidents do not have the capacity to take a claim on their own either because they have mental health difficulties, a general learning disability or a serious head injury. As with children, they are deemed to need special assistance and therefore a litigation friend is required. Where there is no appropriate adult friend or relative we can assist by liaising with the Official Solicitor department who can act in this role.
We can advise clients about how the system of a litigation friend works in practice and the responsibilities that may arise.
Where the particular difficulties of the client are related to either the accident itself or the ability of the client to cope with the effects of the accident after settlement, we can obtain medical and care evidence to cover additional assistance required as a result.
All cases where the person is considered not to have capacity require court approval (except as above where there is no one to take legal action against, such as in a hit and run accident). Judges take this role very seriously and it is important that all of the evidence in support of the claim and its value is obtained to put before the court at the appropriate time. We work hard to obtain all possible supporting evidence and prepare the necessary documentation with the barrister for the court hearing.
