Seven-figure settlement following serious injury to leg with risk of amputation

The Serious Injury team at Moore Barlow has obtained a seven-figure settlement for a client in his 50’s who sustained a serious injury to his leg in the course of his employment.

On the day of the incident our client was at a work site on the road laying concrete pipes. He was injured when one of the concrete pipes was negligently dropped onto his right leg from a digger which was being operated by a colleague.  

The Defendant admitted liability for the incident at an early stage.

Background

As a result of the incident our client sustained a significant injury to the right leg. On the day of the incident our client underwent surgery to have the wound to his leg cleaned and his right tibia was nailed. He was informed that there was a risk that the leg would need to be amputated.

After five days our client was transferred to another hospital for free flap reconstruction of the right leg. He was discharged home after around two weeks. Following this our client went through a long process of treatment and rehabilitation. Despite this he experienced continued pain and stiffness.  

Following some progress, our client began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with right tibial delayed union which was operated on.

He then went on to have a further 13 separate surgeries as a result of complications arising from the tibial fracture. Unfortunately, the fracture failed to unite as a result of the surgeries and our client remained in considerable pain.  

Our client had to move home from a second floor flat to a ground floor accessed property. He was not able to continue in his pre-incident work on account of his injury and he had to retrain into a different role that required less standing.  As a result our client had a loss of earnings. He also had to give up his interest of driving a vespa motorcycle which had an impact on his social life. 

Moore Barlow’s advice

We instructed Mr Graham Groom, a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising in non-union of fractures to examine our client and to provide medico-legal evidence in support of our client’s claim.

The Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon was of the opinion that our client had three options: the first was to do nothing further in terms of surgery which was not advisable, the second was to undertake a further major operation to the lower leg and the third option was an elective amputation.  

Our client made the difficult decision to have an elective amputation of his right leg. A Case Manager, Lisa Brown, from Coastal Case Management Ltd was instructed to assess our client and arranged for him to attend Dorset Orthopaedic Ltd for an assessment so that he could appreciate the issues around living with an amputation in conjunction with the use of prosthetics. 

The Defendant strongly disagreed with the Claimant’s decision to have an elective amputation believing that he should instead have further surgery in an attempt to save the leg and a dispute arose between the parties as to whether the cost of the elective amputation surgery, as well as cost of prosthetics, should be recoverable from the Defendant.  

The Defendants concern was driven by the likelihood of the value of the claim increasing in the event that our client underwent the amputation.  

The outcome

Whilst the Defendant admitted liability early on they were not prepared to invest in the Rehabilitation Code 2015 and argued strongly against a substantial award of compensation. 

In the circumstance we issued proceedings and made an Application to the High Court for an Interim Payment which enabled our client to fund access to rehabilitation on a unilateral basis.  This also set the tone between the parties whereby later interim payments by the Defendant were made on a voluntary basis without the need for a second Application.

Mr David White, a Barrister, from 12 KBW was instructed to be part of the wider legal team to advise our client on an appropriate valuation and following extensive negotiation with the Defendant we were pleased to secure for our client a high seven figure settlement that was significantly more than what had been the Defendant’s first very low offer. 

The successful outcome in this case was achieved through a combination of factors; the fortitude of the client given the difficulties presented by the Defendant; the high quality expert medico legal evidence obtained; and the strategy employed by the legal team at Moore Barlow LLP supported by specialist Barrister David White.

“Matthew Claxson and his team did a great job working on my injury claim. They were professional, approachable and kept us informed throughout. Matthew was always keeping us up to date and responded to our calls straight away.  Would highly recommend if you want a good outcome to your claim”

Client – Mr RH

Our client was supported by Matthew Claxson, a Partner, Caroline Buckingham, a Senior Associate, and Georgie Beckers, a Senior Paralegal. 

How Moore Barlow can help

Our Serious Injury Team are highly experienced acting for those who have suffered serious orthopaedic injury including those who have had a traumatic amputation or are at risk of elective amputation.