Liverpool set wins £6m Fastrack work

Small Liverpool chambers 42 Castle Street has won a contract for indemnity work worth an estimated £5-6m in annual fees.

The 10-tenant specialist PI and medical negligence set has beaten the London circuit to secure the work for Fastrack Indemnity, which is owned by the Fastrack Group.

The set will provide conditional fee and PI packages. The contract is anticipated to produce around 5,000 cases a month by the end of the year. Fastrack Indemnity uses a panel of 39 law firms that must seek the opinion of counsel as a condition of insurance before issuing proceedings.

Director of Fastrack Tim Schools says: "It is not too unremarkable to earn £5-6m in fees when dealing with 5,000 claims a month. A dozen barristers will be committed to this work." In comparison, London's magic circle sets earn around £20m annually.

Delighted practice manager Andrew Heap admits the chambers' association with 9 St John Street in Manchester will help, as 42 Castle Street has only 10 tenants. It will, though, recruit a further two by Christmas if the workload increases to a disproportionate level.

Schools says: "We considered a number of chambers, including London options. We were, however, very impressed with 42 Castle Street, which is clearly a progressive and specialist set operating to proper service standards. We felt that they had a committed and commercially realistic approach."

The scheme will be financed by the Bank of Ireland, and the insurance is underwritten by various Lloyd's syndicates. Solicitors can also apply for funding of disbursements and conditional fee insurance.