“The service I received I feel was outstanding. I am more than pleased with the outcome.”

Our Record

We treat all our clients the same. We also aim to conclude our clients’ claims as quickly as possible. The following are examples of the child abuse compensation claims that we have successfully concluded.

“Friendly, efficient, professional.”

St Leonard’s Cottage Homes Group Litigation

Our firm co-ordinated the group litigation against the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which concluded in 2003. This litigation involved 62 claimants, who brought proceedings against Tower Hamlets for the abuse that they suffered mainly at St Leonard’s Cottage Homes in Hornchurch Essex and one other home in Basildon between 1961 and 1964. The civil actions followed on from the convictions of two abusers at the Old Bailey as a result of “Operation Mapperton” the Metropolitan Police investigation into Tower Hamlets’ homes.

Proceedings were issued on the 31st October 2001 and trial was set for November 2003. By June 2003, a number of offers were made by the Defendant’s solicitors and all the cases were settled by September 2003. Most of the Claimants’ cases were financed by the Legal Services Commission, but there was no deduction out of any of the Claimants’ damages in respect of our firm’s costs for co-ordinating the group action.

The group action resulted in a recovery of just under £1.5 million for various Claimants.

Ms. H

We were instructed by Ms. H on the 21st September 2005. As a child, during the late seventies and eighties, she was abused by a close family member. Her family had often come to the attention of social services but despite a number of warning signals, nothing effective was done to protect her and the abuse continued.

An emergency application for public funding was submitted the day after we saw our client, and this was granted on 10th October 2005. We wrote a Letter of Claim to the Defendant local authority, but due to limitation concerns protective proceedings were issued on 23rd September 2005 and the time for serving those proceedings was later extended. In April 2006, we obtained the claimant’s medical, educational and social services records. We also instructed a consultant psychiatrist to assess the level of damage done to her, and a social care expert to comment on the standard of care shown by the Defendant local authority’s social workers.

In early 2006, an offer of compensation (£5,000) was made by the Defendant’s solicitors but this was not accepted. In May 2006, substantive proceedings were formally served on the Defendant local authority and an extension of time for the service of the defence was granted up to the 22nd September 2006.

In August 2006, our client decided to accept compensation of £20,000 with no deduction for our costs. We then arranged for that compensation to be placed within a special needs trust so as to protect her receipt of benefits.

Ms. H has kindly given her permission for us to talk about her case on our website, although her identity cannot be revealed and certain aspects of her case have been changed.

Miss C

The client approached us in February 2008. She sought compensation for sexual abuse that she sustained as a child between 1995 and 1996 at the hands of the Defendant, a neighbour who had been convicted and was in prison. We proceeded to obtained public funding for her case from the Legal Services Commission. We established that her abuser owned a house, and so we sent out a letter of claim in March 2007. When we received no reply we issued proceedings in the High Court in August 2007 and obtained judgement in default. At the same time, we obtaining a freezing injunction for our client, which effectively stopped the Defendant from trying to sell his house and dissipate his assets.

We then proceeded to trial. The Defendant appointed solicitors to act for him and just a few days before trial, we settled our client’s case for £30,000, which sum was paid by cheque shortly thereafter. However our costs remained unpaid and the Defendant had no available monies to pay these.

We therefore obtained an order from the court that some of our costs be paid, and then secured a charge over the Defendant’s property. The Legal Services Commission then allowed us to release most of our client’s damages to her, so she did not have to wait for the property to be sold.

“Excellent I would recommend anyone, and have”… “Very good. I am glad I went to this solicitor”