Brain Injury
31/12/1999
Facts
We just wanted to say thank you. We will never be able to repay you or express how grateful we are to you for all the support and help. There would have been no one in the world that we would have had in preference to you to act for us.
John, Newcastle Upon Tyne On 1st December 1992 Mr C was driving his Land Rover Discovery along the A505 when an articulated lorry pulled out of a junction leaving insufficient time to complete the manoeuvre. There followed a direct collision between Mr C's vehicle and the lorry.
Injuries
Mr C suffered a number of orthopaedic injuries to his leg and shoulder. He also suffered from a severe closed head injury and by the time he reached hospital he was in a coma. The post traumatic amnesia lasted between 4-6 weeks.
Mr C's orthopaedic injuries resolved rapidly. However, his head injury was to be the most difficult aspect of his condition. The difficulty for his wife was that there was no visible evidence of injury to the head after a short while yet the man she was living with following the accident bore no resemblance to the man she married. Like many families, Mrs C felt that she would be able to care for her husband whilst still finding time to work in her demanding executive job. However, it soon became clear that this was not going to be practicable.
Mr C's personality changed dramatically. Many of the less attractive aspects of his personality became greatly exaggerated. He also suffered from dys-executive syndrome, which resulted in his being completely unable to motivate himself to undertake any aspect of daily living from even the most basic instinct to get out of bed in the morning to maintaining personal hygiene.
Eventually, Mrs C, with the help of a case manager and carers, set up a care regime which was based around supervision and routine. It became clear that Mr C functioned best within a sheltered environment based upon routine and became distressed if any of the arrangements were changed.
The Litigation
The Defendant Insurer indicated at a relatively early stage that liability was unlikely to be a significant problem. It was eventually settled at 85%. Reports were obtained from the following team of eight experts:- Professor of Neurology, Consultant Neuropsychologist, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dental Surgeon, Nursing Care Expert, Case Manager and an Architect.
Interestingly, it was not Mr C's physical condition that was the problem it was his lack of executive function. His future therefore depended upon carers being around to facilitate his day whilst also attempting to rehabilitate him. The claim was settled for £710,000 which on a full liability basis equated to £835,295.
Funding
This case proceeded on the basis of a conditional fee arrangement otherwise known as no win, no fee. Neither Mr nor Mrs C was eligible for legal aid and consequently funding litigation of this magnitude involving this number of experts was prohibitively expensive and would have prevented them from being able to fund the case privately.
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