Banning Referral Fees - One Year On: Is the Personal Injury Field Now More Ethical?

The banning of referral fees was one of the less controversial elements of the Jackson proposal but it nevertheless split the professions and their regulators.  Some defended them as essential or sensible elements of business; cheaper and more effective than other forms of marketing. Insurers were criticized for deriding the claimant personal injury market whilst generating income streams from referral fees themselves. The Bar, in particular, compared referral fees to bribes. The professional regulators varied in the extent to which they welcomed or tolerated the referral fee ban. Doubts about enforceability have routinely been expressed. 

Speakers

• John Spencer, Spencers Solicitors, Member of the Civil Justice Council, APIL
• Stephen Mayson, Consultant, leading commentator on the legal profession
• Andrew Hopper QC, leading authority on professional regulation
• Kathryn Mortimer, Managing Director, DAS Law

Chair

• Professor Richard Moorhead, Director CELS, UCL Laws