In this article we focus on examples of brain injury cases that our specialist solicitors have settled recently.

Mild head injury

Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be caused when the brain is shaken around by a sudden force, for example being thrown suddenly forwards and backwards in road traffic accidents. In many cases people are in shock or are more concerned with other, more visibly obvious, injuries. For these reasons, TBI is known as the 'hidden injury'.

In many cases people are in shock or are more concerned with other, more visibly obvious, injuries. For these reasons, TBI is known as the 'hidden injury'.

Often, there will be no period of unconsciousness. Common symptoms arise such as fatigue, dizziness, headaches, irritability, poor memory, concentration, and organisational difficulties.

For most people these symptoms improve over the first few weeks or months.

Headway's publication on mild head injury (http://www.headway.org.uk/minor-brain-injury.aspx is recommended for further reading.

We recently concluded a case in which a university student suffered such an injury following a road traffic accident. We were involved in helping her rehabilitation and assisting with careful case management to help her continue her academic work.

We liaised closely with the university's welfare officer to develop coping strategies for our client to reduce her fatigue, stress, and help her concentration. By deferring exams and written assignments, our client was able to maintain her degree course with little disruption and she avoided re-sits. We recovered significant damages for her after obtaining expert neuro-psychological evidence.

Moderate head injury

This is defined as a loss of consciousness of between 15 minutes and six hours, and a period of post-traumatic amnesia of up to 24 hours.

People who sustain moderate head injury are likely to have been kept in hospital for a period of observation during the acute phase and then discharged if there are no obvious further medical injuries.

One client we're currently helping who has these symptoms is a teacher who suffered a head injury following a motorcycle accident. He couldn't continue with teaching, because in the classroom he suffered with memory and concentration problems, and fatigue.

Unfortunately, he's had to leave the profession, and we're currently assisting with vocational rehabilitation to help him re-train for another career. We're also sourcing interim payments to assist our client financially whilst he is re-training.

We also recently settled another moderate head injury case, which left our client with emotional and anger problems. Sadly they'd had an inability to hold down a job for more than six months due to emotional outbursts, mood changes, anger and irritability.

We recovered more than £500,000 for him, representing his future potential loss of earnings and future case management requirements in terms of anger management courses and cognitive behavioural therapy.

Severe head injury

These are the most serious and complex cases in terms of the overall effect of the brain injury on the person. These often mean multi-million pound settlements involving payments of some of the compensation in instalments, over a person's lifetime.

This is known as a 'periodical payments order'. These regular instalments are usually paid in relation to future loss of earnings, future care needs and future case management.

Our firm has recently settled a cerebral palsy case involving severe brain injury to a young girl.

Because of clinical negligence on behalf of a hospital, our client was born with cerebral palsy. Our client and her family are now at least secure in the knowledge that they have financial support for the rest of her life.

A mutli-million pound settlement was secured by our team, including a periodical payments order for all future care and accommodation needs. By the time of the settlement, we'd already secured the provision of suitable accommodation by way of interim payments and a commercial care regime had been put in place prior to settlement.

About the team

Access Legal from Shoosmiths provides a dedicated team of lawyers with a wealth of experience in dealing with cases for individuals who've suffered TBI.

We have specialist lawyers in both our Catastrophic Injury and Clinical Negligence departments.

Our offices in Basingstoke, Northampton, Southampton, Reading, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Milton Keynes and London provide nationwide coverage. Claims are dealt with at all our offices, and of course we regularly travel to visit clients in hospitals, rehabilitation centres and at home, to help build close working relationships.

If you'd like to discuss any aspect of brain injury with us, please contact us on 03700 868686.

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All documents should be read and used in accordance with the terms and conditions. This document is for your general information only and is not a detailed statement of the law. It is provided to you free of charge and should not be used as a substitute for specific legal advice. If you require specific legal advice please contact our helpline on 03700 86 86 86.

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