February 03, 2011 at 11:59 AM

The Daily Mail recently published an article headed "No-win, no-fee firms urging Polish workers to cash in on Britain’s compensation culture".

This is yet another example of the blinkered approach of the press when it comes to personal injury litigation.  What the article focuses on are the activities of a number of claims management companies.  However, what they fail to mention is that these companies are not firms of solicitors, merely middlemen who seek to attract accident victims so that the claims company can then sell the claim on.

Articles such as this only serve to fuel the perception of the public that solicitors operate in the same way as "a number of unscrupulous claims management firms", when in fact, the solicitors' profession is the most highly regulated profession in the country.

Whether intentional or otherwise, this article also seems to suggest that Polish people are more likely to make an accident claim that other members of the population.

Clare Lowes, a specialist personal injury solicitor at the Trowbridge office of BLB Solicitors said, "we have had an established Polish community here in Trowbridge for over 60 years.  Whilst we are delighted that local Polish residents choose to instruct us, they form no more or less of a proportion of our clients than any other part of the population.  To suggest that they are more likely to make an accident claim is not only wrong, but very insulting to Polish people."