Benefits of joining for solicitor firms

AvMA welcomes subscriptions from claimant solicitor firms.  The subscription year runs from the 1st of April to 31st of March.  Details of the current subscription rates can be found Here. (The rates for 1.4.24-31.3.25 can be found Here.  If your firm has not previously subscribed, you can join pro  rata (between April to December*) calculated from the beginning of the month. Please submit the enquiry form here and Norika Patel, our Lawyers’ Service Administrator and PA to Lisa O’Dwyer, Director of Medico-Legal Services will contact you with details and the costs.  *For new firms wishing to subscribe for less than 3 months i.e. from January to March, you can join pro rata on condition that you agree to subscribe for the next full subscription year).

  1. AvMA Expert Database: AvMA maintains one of the most comprehensive databases of the best and most experienced medical experts in the field of clinical negligence litigation. Experts are not able to pay to be on our database, they are assessed and vetted by our experienced staff. AvMA experts agree to comply with our Expert Protocol, which can be found HERE.  We also offer a bespoke service, where our team of experienced lawyers and/or medically qualified staff  can help you identify the right expert for your case. We guarantee to respond to requests within 7 working days although we provide these within 24 hours. Your membership gives you unlimited access to the experts on our data base although only two relevant experts per discipline will be provided at any one time.
  2. Free regular updates and Newsletter: Members of AvMA are kept up to date with e-mail news alerts about important policy developments and case law. AvMA’s newsletter is published up to three times a year and features important information on clinical negligence, practice, procedure, medico-legal and policy issues.
  3. Access to two live webinars per annum: Each AvMA Lawyers’ Service Member firm will receive access to two live AvMA webinars per year, these webinars will be organised by our very experienced Conference department.  Details of these and how to access them will be emailed to members at the time .
  4. Discounts attending AvMA’s cutting edge training and conferences for clinical negligence lawyers, and publications: AvMA’s training & events are the well-established market leaders in the field of clinical negligence. As well as the largest and most important conference for lawyers in clinical negligence – AvMA’s Annual Clinical Negligence Conference – there are a range of one day conferences all geared to the needs of medical negligence practitioners and their staff. For firms further afield or restrained to the office, staff from your firm can also benefit from AvMA’s webinar series without even leaving the office. All attract CPD points.
  5. Discounted subscription to The Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management: Members of AvMA also receive a 48% discount if they subscribe to The Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, the international journal aimed at lawyers and clinicians alike where case studies and experiences are shared and complex medico-legal and patient safety issues are explored.
  6. AvMA Lawyers Service Membership Logo: As a current subscriber to AvMA’s Lawyers’ Service you are entitled to display the AvMA Lawyer Service membership logo  on your website – it is important the logo displays the relevant  subscription year, and is in accordance with the terms and conditions of use T C for-use-of-the-AvMA-LS-logo-LOD 010323.  Lawyers practising outside of the jurisdiction of England and Wales must also comply with the relevant code of conduct.
  7. Free listing on AvMA’s ‘Find a Solicitor’ website for firms in Ireland and Scotland: Members of AvMA in Ireland and Scotland who agree to comply with our Code of Conduct (Ireland) (Scotland) can also have a free listing on our ‘Find a Solicitor’ website, designed to help claimants find specialist medical negligence solicitors.

Working with AvMA: Just about every law firm in the UK specialising in clinical negligence are members of AvMA. It is one of the ways a firm demonstrates its commitment to this area of law. Being a patients’ charity with significant profile AvMA also enjoys considerable influence with policy makers, which lawyers and their organisations on their own cannot. By joining AvMA you are also helping ensure that AvMA’s voice in fighting for access to justice continues to be strong. AvMA has a proven track record in influencing policy and our work is directly informed by our members. In the last two years alone AvMA has campaigned for and succeeded (through judicial review and lobbying) in securing at least some legal aid for clinical negligence. We have been instrumental in providing support to families affected by the hospital scandals in Stafford and Bridgend as well as being at the forefront in the campaign for and securing a statutory Duty of Candour. We continue to work on behalf of claimants and their representatives with bodies such as the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Resolution and relevant Arms Length Bodies.