Head and Brain Injury Claims

Team Oversight

Your case will be managed by either Richard Meggitt (APIL Accredited Senior Litigator) or Ralph Clark. This senior solicitor provides strategic oversight and directs High Court litigation. Crucially, either Richard Meggitt or Ralph Clark will visit you at your home throughout the life of the case, ensuring continuous personal oversight. Each senior solicitor is supported by a dedicated team of solicitors and support staff to ensure robust operational management.

Phase 1: Immediate Crisis and Intervention (The First 6 Months)

This phase focuses on stability, empathy, and managing your cognitive and behavioural deficits.

• Initial Focus: A TBI is a life-changing event requiring immediate, holistic support. We initiate your case with free psychological therapy for both the injured person and the family, recognising the immediate emotional and cognitive toll.
• Unique Action: We instruct a Case Manager who specialises in neuro-rehabilitation. Their immediate priority is to assess and stabilise your condition, focusing on support for cognitive, emotional, and behavioural changes.
• Financial Intervention: We secure quick access to your £5,000 interest-free loan for urgent expenses and immediately begin the process of applying for the first Interim Payments to fund private care and necessary equipment.

Phase 2: Rehabilitation Blueprint & Legal Foundation (The First 18 Months)

This phase formalises the long-term care plan and builds the crucial legal evidence base.

• Adherence to the Rehabilitation Code (2015): We immediately enforce the Rehabilitation Code (2015). This necessitates a collaborative approach with the defendant’s insurer to fund a formal Immediate Needs Assessment (INA). The Code ensures rehabilitation starts without delay, putting your recovery at the centre of the legal process.
• Expert Instruction: Building the Team: Our litigation strategy requires a multi-disciplinary panel of experts whose reports quantify your exact needs for the Court:
  • Consultant Neurologists / Neuro-Psychologists: Essential for proving the extent of the brain damage and future cognitive/behavioural prognosis.
  • Accommodation Expert: Crucial for assessing your current and future housing needs, including the cost of purchasing, adapting, or building a suitable, accessible home.
  • Care and Services Expert: Required to detail and cost the entire support package (e.g., professional carers, support workers) over your lifetime.
  • Rehabilitation Expert: Used to quantify the ongoing cost of specialist therapies (e.g., speech, language, physiotherapy) needed for functional improvement.
• Legal Action: We adhere to the Personal Injury Protocol guidelines, and if liability is denied, we prepare to issue High Court Proceedings to advance the case.

Phase 3: Valuation, Litigation, and Strategy (The Lifetime Calculation)

This phase focuses on calculating lifetime damages and preparing for negotiation.

• Valuation Strategy: Valuation is complex and must wait until your prognosis stabilises (often 1–3 years post-injury) to accurately project lifelong needs.
• Heads of Damage: The core value is driven by:
  • Future Care & Case Management: The largest single head, funding professional carers and case management for life.
  • Loss of Future Earnings: The value will depend on your pre-accident earnings, age, future career prospects, and pension.
  • Neuro-Rehabilitation Costs: Funding specialist therapies over a lifetime.
  • Adapted Accommodation: Costs associated with buying or adapting a property for accessibility and specialised needs.
• Litigation Support: We involve our specialist Barristers (from 4KBW or Ropewalk Chambers) early to advise on complex causation arguments and the final High Court quantification strategy.
• Negotiation Strategy: The Joint Settlement Meeting (JSM)
  • The final stage of negotiation often takes place at a Joint Settlement Meeting (JSM), which is an intensive negotiation between all parties.
  • Crucially, the JSM is a Without Prejudice meeting. This means all offers, concessions, and discussions that take place during the meeting cannot be mentioned in court if the case fails to settle. This allows all parties to negotiate freely and openly towards a settlement figure.

Phase 4: Financial Security and Protection (Post-Settlement)

This final phase ensures the compensation is safeguarded for your lifetime.

• Protecting the Funds: We immediately address the need for Court of Protection involvement if you lack the mental capacity to manage the funds.
• Trust Setup: We work with financial experts like Frenkel Topping, based in Manchester, to set up a Personal Injury Trust (PIT) to safeguard the settlement, ensuring the compensation is professionally managed and does not affect your entitlement to state benefits.
• PPO Strategy: We advise on the suitability of using Periodic Payment Orders (PPOs)—tax-free annual payments—to provide a secure, inflation-proofed income stream for your future care costs.