4.1 Inference 129
Commentary
Although the passage has a somewhat
negative tone it is not openly judgemental in
what it claims. We have to be careful,
therefore, what we read into the passage and
what we infer from it. If someone has a poor
opinion of lawyers generally, or of ‘ambulance
chasers’ in particular, it would be easy to be led
by prejudice into thinking that this document
supports those viewpoints. It does not.
You cannot, for example, infer from it that
lawyers are bad people, even if you happen to
think that they are. If you included A in your
list of safe inferences, then either you weren’t
taking the question seriously, or you were
simply giving a view based on prejudice, or
other data that is not provided here. In fact
there is practically never sufficient hard
evidence for any claim as strong, as sweeping,
or as judgemental as A. A is not even the kind
of claim that can be ordinarily inferred reliably
from purely factual information.
What about B? This certainly seems a more
reasonable inference, and a less opinionated
one. There is, too, a widely held belief that theFor each of the following statements in turn,
assess whether or not it can reliably be
concluded (inferred) from the above
passage.Activity
The industry surrounding large
compensation claims following accidents
and personal injury has attracted much
media attention, with stories of millions of
dollars being awarded in damages to
successful claimants, and of
compensation being sought for every kind
of injury or loss. There has also been a
dramatic increase in law firms – or ‘claim
management firms’ that act as
intermediaries – canvassing for accident
victims by advertising on television, the
internet or on the street. (The phrase
‘ambulance chasers’ is often used to
describe them.) People complain of getting
unsolicited calls or text messages asking:
‘Have you had an accident that wasn’t your
fault?.. .’ or words to that effect.
Television – especially daytime television –
has a high proportion of such ads.
At the same time it has become
commonplace for lawyers to offer their
services on a no-win no-fee basis, which
allows people on low or moderate incomes
to go to court with no risk of running up
expenses they couldn’t otherwise afford.
This is also known as a ‘conditional-fee
agreement’. Lawyers earn nothing for
unsuccessful claims but are entitled to
charge up to twice their normal costs if the
claim is successful. This practice, known
as ‘uplift’, can add thousands to the bill
the losing side then has to pay out.DOC 2 A Lawyers are self-serving and
unscrupulous.
B Without the no-win no-fee option there
would be fewer claims for personal
injury.
C Advertising by law firms and/or claim
management firms encourages clients
to exaggerate or invent injuries.
D A no-win no-fee arrangement benefits
the lawyer much more than it does the
claimant.
E As long as they win more than 50% of
conditional-fee cases, a law firm need
not be out of pocket.
F Claims being pursued for personal
injury have increased significantly
since the introduction of conditional-
fee agreements.