Welcome to the Legal Advice Site. Here we hope to give you some solid information on where to get legal advice and when
you need to get advice. There are many times throughout our lives that we come into contact with the law and need a
professional to see us through. Unfortunately in too many cases the British public are too much reliant on the old “it’ll
be ok” and it rarely is. Nowadays everyone seems to think they are an expert and you often hear the expression “that
ain’t legal” banded about without any concept or knowledge of whether it is or it isn’t. Over the last 10 years there has
been a massive increase in the number of claims made and it can be said that the UK, like America, are moving towards
becoming a claim culture.
A Claims Culture
So often before liability was ignored and accidents happen without any concern or emphasis on responsibility except on the
part of an insurance claim to get the car fixed. As we moved into an era whereby the introduction of health and safety
laws identified responsibility we have moved into an era of claiming for compensation. Identifying responsibility and
making someone pay for it in general is a good thing as it identifies negligence and encourages responsibility. This has
now moved into a claims culture for all things especially within the sphere of car accidents. Now when some mishap occurs
we want someone to pay – and not necessarily as it will make them more responsible as the onus in on the insurance company
to pay out which in turn gets passed on to the consumer.
This is most apparent with car accidents, whiplash compensation has now become the most common compensation claim - especially as it is hard to prove the severity!
Approachable Legal Profession
Claims are just one area that we are seeing an increase in and consequently an increase in interaction with the legal
profession. The term profession can often be intimidating for the average joe and deep down a visit to the lawyers or
solicitors is rarely seen as a happy event. For most people the main reason they will ever meet with a member of the
legal community is for purchasing a house. This can be done remotely and often is. Largely due to the way that
individuals come across or select their mortgage conveyancor, through recommendation, it isn’t that necessary to actually
meet face to face. The only time this becomes important is actually for Money Laundering regulations which requires the
Solicitor to confirm that the individual matches the identity papers that have been submitted.
There are, though, many times more that we should be meeting with lawyers. Wills are another area that is equally
important and frighteningly rare amongst the general populace. Contract Law, Marriage Law and Trust Law are also areas
that we find ourselves in need of advice. The Legal Advice Site aims to cut through some of the ambiguity and enable its
visitors to be more confident and find members of the law society that are approachable and easy to deal with – one’s that
speak in plain English for a start!
