A YEAR TO REMEMBER (AND FORGET)

So much has happened in 2011. We at S J Edney have continued to act for a number of clients who have been injured and are entitled to compensation. Their claims vary from people who have been injured at hospital due to an error made by either a doctor or nurse and others injured at work, in a road accident or at a public place.

Mrs Janice Lawrence sought our advice about an independent report which was published in November 2011 following the death of her parents in 2007. This was a terrible case as her elderly parents were killed by their son (her brother) Mr Tim Crook in horrific circumstances. The independent inquiry acknowledged a number of failings on the part of two mental health services including Swindon which had resulted in the deterioration of Mr Crook’s medical condition which, in turn, led to these killings. Read more about this case.

2011 has also been a dreadful year for legal aid lawyers. Swingeing cuts of £350m will be made from the existing legal aid budget and are bound to impact on the most vulnerable people in our society and their ability to have access to justice. Personal injury lawyers are also smarting due to the proposed changes in the costs awarded from unsuccessful Defendants which are likely to make personal injury cases less profitable in the future.

In the new year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority will begin to regulate Alternative Business Structures which permit non lawyers to provide legal services direct to the public. It will be interesting to see how much competition the traditional law firm will face from these new market entrants.

Happy Christmas

THE TEAM AT S J EDNEY WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR CLIENTS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

Road accident causing brain injury

We are acting for a young man (now aged 17) who was involved in a road accident in Gloucester during May 2007. His parents had consulted another solicitor and were told that their son did not have a personal injury claim and they had come to our firm for a second opinion. This was a difficult case. Our client (who was then aged 13) and two of his friends were crossing a busy road. His two friends managed to cross the road on foot safely but when our client followed a short time later on his bicycle, he was struck by an oncoming car. Sadly, he suffered a severe head injury. In our view, blame attached to both the driver and our client for what had happened. The driver had been driving too fast in the circumstances given the congested area with children about but our client had emerged from between stationary traffic into the path of this driver without checking that it was safe to do so. A letter of claim was submitted to the driver’s insurers who disputed liability. Proceedings had to be issued at the Bristol District Registry. An early offer of 25%/75% in the driver’s favour was made but was rejected. After a number of further offers and counter offers we were able to apportion liability on a 38.5%/61.5% basis in the driver’s favour giving our client 38.5% of full liability damages. His damages will now need to be assessed.

The terms of this settlement were approved by the Judge at Bristol District Registry on the 13 April 2011.

Read more head injury cases by Solicitor S. J. Edney

THE NEGLECT OF THE ELDERLY IN THE NHS

This has been another bad few weeks for the NHS. Channel Four aired a programme on 28 February 2011 (Dispatches : Secret NHS Diaries) which made very uncomfortable viewing – it highlighted the shocking inadequacies of palliative care in the NHS. It featured an elderly man spending his final days in hospital. He was treated with appalling insensitivity by the nursing staff, even during simple everyday tasks such as mealtimes.

This programme came in the wake of a damming report from Ann Abraham, the Health Service Ombudsman, who had carried out an in-depth review of ten cases all involving patients aged over 65, and concluded that they all had suffered unnecessary pain, neglect and distress.

Read more by Swindon Solicitor Seamus Edney