Ben Bradley secures £2.3m settlement for client with brain injury after RTA

Ben Bradley has successfully represented a cyclist in a personal injury claim after he sustained life changing brain injuries in a road traffic accident.

Ben’s client, WH, was hit by a lorry whilst cycling to work when the lorry driver accelerated to try and clear a junction before the traffic lights turned red. The light had in fact turned red before the lorry passed through, leading to a collision with WH.

WH was knocked unconscious and was taken to hospital. He had sustained skull fractures, a subarachnoid haemorrhage and brain contusions. He also suffered post-traumatic amnesia. He was in hospital for approximately seven weeks and required considerable care and assistance from his family at home afterwards. Prior to the accident he lived an active life with a physical job but he could not return to work. His wife also left her job to become a full time carer.

WH’s wife, YH, acted as his Litigation Friend after it was established that WH lacked capacity. A Professional Deputy was put in place.

Ben Bradley was instructed by Ben Townsend and Emma Lyons of Stewarts Law to advise in this claim.

Settlement

Liability was in issue with some apportionment of blame placed on WH, because he too had likely crossed the traffic lights when they were showing red against him. Another hard fought issue was the amount of commercial care required to ensure WH’s needs were fully met and YH was able to resume her role as ‘wife’ rather than ‘carer’.

Ben and the team negotiated collaboratively with the defendant’s solicitors to ensure that a favourable settlement was achieved and the couple were able to lead as normal a life as possible.

WH obtained £248,000 in interim payments on account of damages prior to the final settlement. The legal representatives of both parties attended a settlement meeting in September 2021, which was conducted by Ben Bradley and Mark Laprell, of 18 St John Street. The claim was settled for £2.3m, with settlement being approved by Master Dagnall.

Find out more:

Ben Bradley acts for Claimants and Defendants, in cases where individuals have suffered life changing injuries.

He is listed as a leading junior by the legal directories across his core practice areas of personal injury, clinical negligence and travel law. He has been recognised for his particular specialisms in catastrophic injury cases and complex medical negligence work.

His client care skills are frequently praised, being noted as someone who is able “to put clients at ease” and who “relate[s] well to his clients regardless of their intellectual ability”.

Ben enjoys a busy practice, generally being instructed by the leading Claimant and Defendant firms in the country. During the lockdown period in 2020, he recovered in excess of £40m for various Claimants who had suffered various catastrophic injuries.

He is registered as one of Chambers’ pupil supervisors.

To find out more, contact Paul Barton on +44 (0)207 427 4907 or Mark Gardner on +44 (0)20 7427 4909 for a confidential discussion.

News 31 May, 2022