Legal Futures reports..
A service offering direct access barristers to handle all the stages of a small claim – including whiplash cases from next year – for a fixed fee of £999 has gone live.
Small Claims Portal was developed by commercial litigation solicitor Chris MacCafferty and Stephen Ward, managing director of Clerksroom Direct, an online platform for direct access barristers.
Mr MacCafferty said that, through Clerksroom Direct, the service could cover every court in England and Wales, and he and Mr Ward would be bringing in Clerksroom’s junior clerk chatbot, Billy Bot, to triage cases.
Billy Bot
The current limit for small claims is £10,000 for all cases apart from personal injury, where it is £1,000.
Mr MacCafferty said: “It was frustrating to me when I was working in commercial practice and clients would come in with good claims, but as soon as they said ‘less than £10,000’, my heart would sink.
“There is minimal cost recovery on the small claims track, and the chances are that by instructing a solicitor you could end up paying more in fees than you get in damages.”
The portal is designed to enable law firms to direct clients with small claims to a platform where they can access guidance on handling a claim themselves or find a direct access barrister.
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