Jolanta Budzowska

Legal Counsel / Partner / Personal Injury Team / BFP Law Firm

I first started handling personal injury cases a few years before the release of ‘Erin Brokovich’…

In that time, I was greatly influenced by the work of Adam Sandauer and an organisation he created: ‘Polish Patients Association Primum Non Nocere’. Medical negligence cases in Poland were in its infancy back then, and Adam was the one to pave the way and help the victims of malpractice. Hours spent on providing free legal advice have made me realise, that who I want to become as a lawyer is a personal injury attorney.

Since then me and my – now numerous – team of personal injury lawyers have come a long way. We had no pattern to follow, because we were the first in Poland – we created the pattern. From the beginning we focused on one field: legal assistance in cases for compensation for personal injury. We begun with medical negligence cases and today we know that these proceedings equipped us for… well, everything. This field is the toughest to succeed on, therefore we know how to face the greatest adversity.

Today our winning reputation and successful track record, work ethics, experience and database allow us to be a good partner for law firms outside of Poland, who need our professional assistance within Poland. We also help foreigners who have suffered injuries. From my colleagues I expect no less than what I would expect from myself.  I am not afraid of challenges. My leisure time is always an opportunity to create ways of implementing my ideas.

I am immensely proud of the personal injury lawyers team I have created – my associates are people who deal with this difficult area of law with passion and professionalism.

I have been a legal counsel [radca prawny] since 1996, and am a founding partner in the law firm Budzowska Fiutowski and Partners Legal Counsels, based in Kraków, Poland.

For several years I have provided legal assistance to victims in personal injury cases, including litigation of civil claims before Polish courts. Over these several years of practice I have obtained expertise in matters related to medical negligence and the infringement of personal rights. I have recorded the highest winnings in the history of the Polish judicature (1.200.000 PLN as redress for bodily injury and health disorder; 500.000 as redress for the death of an immediate family member). I am and was representing Claimants in a total of 341 high profile cases (with values of claims exceeding 200.000 PLN in most), both concluded and still pending, in front of courts all over the country, including the Polish Supreme Court.

My experience also includes handling personal injury cases which cross-border elements. In that regard I boast a broad experience with cases that concern aviation and road traffic accidents. A notable example of the above is the case I have handled in cooperation with two foreign law firms: Wisner Law Firm (USA) and Stewarts Law LLP (England). I have represented over 130 victims of the Boeing 767 emergency landing at the Okęcie airport in Warsaw (PLL LOT 016). As a result of the undertaken legal actions, the parties agreed to settle the case, with sizeable redress awards paid in favour of the clients.

My professional activity includes memberships of multiple international organizations. Since 2009 I have been a board member of the Pan-European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (POEPIL), which is based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 2010 on behalf of POEPIL, and as a result of public consultations, I have provided my expert opinion on a draft of a Polish bill, the aim of which was to introduce significant amendments to the Patient Rights and the Patient Ombudsman act.

Furthermore, the membership of The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, allows me, among others, to develop my knowledge in regard to insurance law in the common law system.

In 2014 I was invited by the National Council of Legal Counsels to join a team tasked with preparing a response in the consultations with the Council of the European Union regarding the future of the European Court of Human Rights. I was, and still am, representing plaintiffs whose cases were, or still are, litigated before this court.

Since 1 January 2012  I am also a member of the Provincial Commission in the Małopolska voivodeship, which is one of 16 such commissions that have been established in Poland.  The main aim of those commissions is to rule on the matter of medical negligence in a special extrajudicial administrative mode.
My educational activities include, among others, regular publication of articles, commentaries, and lectures on matters related to compensation claims for personal injury, especially in respect of the Polish civil law.

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