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Already lodged a personal injury claim in Queensland? Bring it to Roche Legal

This page is for people who have already lodged a formal personal injury damages claim in Queensland. You may have lodged it yourself, or another law firm may be acting or have acted for you. Either way, you can ask Roche Legal to review where your claim stands and, if it suits you, to take it the rest of the way.

We focus on serious and complex claims, where the difference between a fair result and a poor one is widest: substantial income loss, an inability to return to your old work, permanent injury, major future treatment or care, disputed liability, or a significant offer on the table.

Your review is confidential, and you are under no obligation to change firms. If your claim is already on foot and you want a considered second opinion on how it is being run and what it may be worth, that is exactly what this review is for.

Request a confidential review of your existing claim

Changing lawyers when another firm is already acting

If a law firm is running your claim but you are not confident in how it is being handled, you can change personal injury lawyers at any stage in Queensland without restarting your claim. For a fuller explanation of how switching works, what it costs and whether it causes delay, see our guide on changing lawyers during a compensation claim.

A confidential review is a sensible first step before you decide anything. We can look at where your claim is up to, whether the evidence and valuation reflect the seriousness of your injuries, and what the changeover would involve.

When you move an existing claim to Roche Legal, you have our standard No Win No Fee service:

  • Direct contact. You deal directly with Roche Legal’s Director, rather than being passed between lawyers.
  • No upfront professional fees. We fund the work needed to run your claim, and you do not repay our professional fees if the claim does not succeed.
  • A contractual fee cap below the statutory ceiling. Our professional fees are capped by contract, and that cap sits below the 50% statutory ceiling. See how the cap works below.

On cost when you switch: your former firm may be entitled to payment for work already done, with any disbursements or lien resolved as part of the handover. We explain this fully before you commit.

If you lodged the claim yourself

Many people lodge their own Notice of Claim and manage the early steps without difficulty. The pressure tends to build later, once the insurer’s representatives start disputing your injuries, testing your evidence and challenging what the claim is worth. That is the point at which many self-represented claimants find they are negotiating against a professional team, over a figure they will only settle once.

You do not have to continue on your own. You can hand an existing claim to us at this stage, and we can review where it stands before you decide.

What the Queensland judgment data suggests

Across 103 Queensland personal injury matters that reached a contested judgment in the period from 2021 to 2026 (a period that is not yet complete), plaintiffs with legal representation recovered damages more often than self-represented plaintiffs.

Chance of recovering damages: with a lawyer vs self-represented

Across 103 Queensland personal injury matters that reached a contested judgment from 2021 to 2026 — split by representation.
With a lawyer
90 matters at judgment
62%
recover damages (56 of 90)
Median recovery when successful: $461,171
Self-represented
13 matters at judgment
46%
recover damages (6 of 13)
Median recovery when successful: $24,064
Thin sample (n=13)
Based on substantive Queensland personal injury damages judgments from 2021 to 2026 — trials, damages assessments, and substantive appeals — where the plaintiff either recovered damages or the claim was dismissed. Excludes settlements, interlocutory rulings, costs decisions, and statutory reviews. Outcomes reflect cases that reached judgment, not a controlled comparison — self-represented plaintiffs may face different fact patterns on average, including matters that couldn't secure representation.
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These figures come from contested judgments drawn from our Queensland Personal Injury Database. They reflect only cases that reached court, not settlements, and they are not a controlled comparison: represented and self-represented claims often differ in their facts. The self-represented sample is small. The figures do not predict the value of any individual claim. What they are consistent with is what we see in practice, that representation matters most when the claim is serious and the sums are large.

How the fee cap protects you when you switch

Our fee cap is the most we can charge, not what we usually charge. We bill for the work your claim actually requires, which is normally well below the cap. The larger your result, the stronger the cap works in your favour.

  • The cap is a maximum, not a quote.
  • The cap sits below the 50% statutory ceiling.
  • The cap is measured on your net recovery, after disbursements and any refunds.
  • Your exact cap is set out in Roche Legal’s written costs agreement, which also deals separately with disbursements, refunds, any adverse-costs exposure and any former firm’s costs.

The fee cap explained

A ceiling on our fee – not an automatic charge

The cap is the most we could ever charge – your worst-case protection, and always lower than the statutory 50%. It isn’t what we usually charge: we bill for the work your claim needs, normally well below the cap. The bigger the result, the stronger your cap. Move the slider to see how it works.

You keep at least 70% of your net recovery
What you keep — guaranteed minimum Fee ceiling — your actual fee sits below this
Smaller claimLarger claim
Your cap is always between 20–40%
Our cap 20–40%
Most firms up to 50%
Your exact cap is set out in Roche Legal’s written costs agreement.

The cap is a maximum, not a quote. Your actual fee depends on the work your claim requires and is confirmed in a written costs agreement. The cap is measured on your net recovery (after disbursements and refunds).

Where serious Queensland claims recover the most

How much a claim recovers varies significantly with the kind of injury and the claim framework that governs it, such as the frameworks set by Queensland legislation including the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002, the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 and the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003. If your claim is already on foot, the breakdowns below give a sense of where comparable matters have landed at judgment. They are historical court outcomes, not an estimate of what any individual claim is worth.

Median Queensland personal injury damages by body region

Cervical spine (n=14)
$126,012 (median)
$0$2.5M
Psychiatric (n=12)
$589,567 (median)
$0$2.5M
Lumbar / thoracic spine (n=11)
$490,429 (median)
$0$2.5M
Shoulder (n=6)
$474,200 (median)
$0$2.5M
Knee / lower leg (n=5)
$173,659 (median)
$0$2.5M
Top five body regions by case count. Each case is counted once, under its dominant injury — the region most central to the damages, typically the one driving the ISV or WPI assessment. Each dot is one case; the shaded band marks the middle 50% (Q1–Q3) and the tick marks the median. Hover any dot for the case name and recovery; click to investigate. Regions with fewer than 5 quantum-producing cases are excluded so the medians stay statistically meaningful. Based on substantive Queensland personal injury damages judgments from 2021 to 2026.
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How to request a review of your existing claim

Complete the short form below and tell us that you already have a claim on foot. We will contact you to review where your claim stands and, if you decide to proceed, to explain the changeover. The review of your existing claim is free and confidential, and it does not commit you to changing firms.

    All fields marked * are required. Your review is confidential and does not commit you to changing firms.


    Spinal (back or neck)FracturePsychological or psychiatricBrain, amputation, paralysis, burns or sensory lossOther or multiple














    Frequently asked questions

    I lodged my claim myself. Can a lawyer take over now?

    Yes. If you lodged your own Notice of Claim and now want representation, for example because negotiations have become difficult, a firm can take over an existing claim and act for you from that point.

    What will it cost to move to Roche Legal?

    Roche Legal runs claims on a capped No Win No Fee basis, with professional fees capped by contract below the 50% statutory ceiling. The review of your existing claim is free. Your former firm may be entitled to payment for work already done, and any disbursements or lien are dealt with as part of the handover; we can explain this before you commit.

    What documents do you need if another firm is acting?

    It helps to see your current costs agreement, recent correspondence about how the claim is progressing, and key documents such as your Notice of Claim, medical reports and any offers made or received. You do not need to gather everything first. We can request your file from your current firm as part of the changeover.