Brain injury group stresses need to use specialist lawyers

Following the Law Society's warning this week that people affected by brain injury risk being under compensated if they make a claim through their insurers, the Brain Injury Group has emphasised the importance of using a specialist brain injury solicitor.

This is the only way, says the group, that accident victims can be sure that they can access the right funding, medical experts and rehabilitation, as well as being certain of receiving the appropriate level of compensation.

The group says that there are far too many examples of people that have been badly let down by their legal advisors.

One example they offered was that of the family of Ryan Garrigan, who was brain injured at birth and has cerebral palsy. They were told that they could not win a claim. After seeking a second opinion from Brain Injury Group solicitor Helen Niebuhr, of Darbys solicitors,

the family won £6.6million in compensation.

Brain Injury Group member Andrew McGowan, of Neil Hudgell Solicitors, said that there could be potentially disastrous consequences for victims if their claim is mishandled.

“We took over a claim arising from a road traffic accident in 2007. Another solicitor had been immediately appointed to act for the client, but they either ignored or missed the brain injury,” he said.

“Consequently the rehab they arranged for the client was not appropriate. By the time we were instructed in 2011, the window of opportunity had passed. With the right rehab in place from the start, there’s every chance the outcome would have been better and the family tensions over the last few years would probably have been avoided or significantly reduced.”

Mark Dugdale