Partnership history: Barcan+Kirby

Based in Bristol, with offices throughout the city providing services in Family law, Commercial Property, Court of Protection, General Litigation, Conveyancing and Corporate law, Barcan+Kirby has a long history of helping people harmed through medical malpractice and personal injury to assert their legal rights and secure compensation for their often life-changing injuries.

Today, the firm’s medical negligence practice is ranked in band 1 by Chambers and Partners, demonstrating the team’s expertise and commitment to delivering a very personal service to clients at what is typically a difficult and stressful time.

Barcan+Kirby has worked with ARAG since 2013, when the introduction of the LASPO reforms transformed litigation and how it is funded. They were particularly uncertain times for the victims of personal injury and medical negligence, that called for a new approach to the insurance of costs risk in such cases.

“It feels like they are part of our team,” comments Richard Harries, Partner and Head of Medical Negligence and Personal Injury “They understand what we need to support our clients and give us the freedom to get on with what we do on a day-to-day basis, but they also demonstrate a lot of trust and allow us to exercise our judgement.

I remember that they invested a lot of time, when we first started working together, to get to know our business in detail. I think that has really paid off, over the years. We get the independence we need to make everyday decisions, which enables us to be more responsive to clients.

If we do need to speak to somebody at ARAG though, there’s a real understanding in the underwriting and claims teams, not just of our business, but of the mechanics of medical negligence claims. I think that helps them to support us, especially in cases that may not be so straightforward or where the circumstances of the claim are more challenging.

It’s easy for an ATE provider to say they will consider each case on its own merits, but it takes quite a sophisticated understanding and a fair bit of experience to do that. Where we’ve had claims that have been transferred from another firm, for example, or that may initially have been funded by legal aid, the ARAG team has shown the technical appreciation and confidence to support our decisions.”

ARAG has always been a very flexible partner for us, adapting to our needs, but also very pragmatic in their approach to decisions, when we have to make them.

Even now, some eight years since LASPO was passed, there is still a lot of uncertainty about how medical negligence claims are funded, both in terms of challenges to litigation and the potential for more legislation. ARAG has proved to us that they will adapt to whatever the future may hold, and support Barcan+Kirby in the work that we do.”