Stephen Killalea QC & Stephen Cottrell achieve £multi-million settlement for a young paraplegic catastrophically injured in RTA
Stephen Killalea QC and Stephen Cottrell represented a 23 year old man who was rendered a T7 paraplegic in a road traffic accident. The High Court in Bristol approved the compromise of 80% in respect of liability and a lump sum of £1.81 million net and a PPO of £50,000 net.
The reduction of 20% in respect of liability was on the basis that the Claimant, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected through the sunroof of a vehicle which crashed whilst being driven by a drunk driver.
An unusual feature of the case revolved around capacity. The Claimant, to date, has refused to engage with any significant care support. Although having capacity to litigate and to manage his funds the PPO included £7,000 gross per annum in respect of professional trustee fees to assist him in managing his finances. Although the majority of the experts (including both neuropsychologists) agreed that the Claimant had capacity one expert queried whether it was a borderline case due to the Claimant’s pre-morbid deficits. The terms of the compromise provided for the suspension of the trustee element of the PPO should the Claimant cease to use one. The High Court exercised its inherent jurisdiction in approving the proposed compromise and terms of the Order.
(Instructed by Ben Priestley of Serious Law, Bolton.)
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