Solicitors’ Assumption of Responsibility: Miller v Irwin Mitchell LLP [2023] EWCA Civ 53

There was good news for travel solicitors this week, with the Court of Appeal giving judgment for the solicitors in Miller v Irwin Mitchell.

We at 1CL admire and encourage commitment to a cause, but even we blanched this week when we read of the determination of a 20 year old Slovenian woman, Julija Adlesic, who cut off her own hand with a circular saw in order to claim a €1,000,000 insurance payout. We can only imagine how irritated she must have been when police retrieved the hand and doctors were able to reattach it. All too predictably, the story ended in tears, when she was sentenced to a two year custodial sentence for attempted insurance fraud.

What happens where a personal injury claimant is made bankrupt part way through the case, or where a bankrupt wishes to bring a claim for personal injury?