Temple Garden Chambers is a leading common law set based in London and The Hague.
With excellence from top to bottom Chambers provides a first class service in a number of different fields.
Temple Garden Chambers is a leading common law set based in London and The Hague.
With excellence from top to bottom Chambers provides a first class service in a number of different fields.
17/11/2023
Lionel (instructed by David Johnson at DAC Beachcroft) represented the Defendant in a complex High Court pedestrian brain and catastrophic injury case pleaded at circa £7 million. Primary liability and contributory negligence remained in dispute, with evidence from accident reconstruction and CCTV analysis experts obtained by both parties, in addition to medical and quantum experts. The case was further complicated by the fact that the Claimant had pre-existing cognitive difficulties. However, it was her case that she had suffered serious brain and physical injuries that had caused a catastrophic decline in independence, leading to quantitatively and qualitatively different care and accommodation needs (including transfer to a residential home permanently). The Defendant contended that, with further surgical treatment, her care needs would return to their previous baseline with no qualitative change and/or only modest increases; and that credit should in any event be given for the likely continued provision of local-authority care (the Claimant having always had some funded care). The case ultimately settled at a second JSM for £1.15 million, which sum was later approved by the Court taking into account the liability and quantum disputes, as well as the accepted likelihood of continued local authority funding. The case was a textbook example of how Reaney (Reaney v University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Viv 1119), Crofton (Crofton v NHS Litigation Authority [2007] EWHC Civ 71) and Sowden (Sowden v Lodge [2004] 1 WLR 2129) arguments can be applied in practice with the right evidence.
