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James Murphy secures settlement of £1.83m in transhumeral amputation claim

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Claimant, aged 56, suffered a severe crush injury to his right dominant arm when he was pulled into a conveyor at work. The Claimant’s arm was amputated to save his life.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Claimant has a short stump and advices received were initially equivocal about whether a myoelectric prosthetic would be beneficial or even operable by him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Phil Davison of Sintons LLP arranged a trial supervised by Blatchford of Sheffield using interim payments which was successful such that the Claimant’s motivation and control of his arm were considered exceptional. The Claimant is self-caring and can use the arm well for many tasks. He additionally benefits from cosmetic and sports prosthesis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Expert evidence relating to prosthetic use was received from Dr. Renjith Bose - Rehabilitation Medicine, Ms. Michelle Henry  – Care/OT, Ms. Carolyn Hirons - Specialist amputation physiotherapist and Mr. Abdo Haidar - Prosthetist.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The claim compromised at a hybrid settlement meeting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James worked with <a href="https://sintons.co.uk/our-people/phil-davison/">Phil Davison</a>, Partner at <a href="https://sintons.co.uk/about/">Sintons LLP</a>, on behalf of the Claimant.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->

When a Fatal Accident Act dependant is already a protected party

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James Murphy has obtained approval of an agreed settlement sum in the High Court of Justice, Leeds District Registry, relating to an adult protected party who brought a claim as a dependant of her deceased father pursuant to the Fatal Accident Act 1976.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Court also approved payment of the sum of damages directly into a Disabled Persons Trust (DPT), rather than the typical order of payment to a Deputy / Court of Protection which is the starting point for an incapacitated dependant. The consequence of payment to a Deputy/ Court of Protection, this being an FAA claim and not a personal injury action, was the protected party was liable to lose her eligibility for means tested statutory funding, including social care provided via her local authority direct payments package (which had been in place since before her father’s death), plus any current/future means tested benefits (not relevant at present, but may be in the future).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A DPT was established with professional solicitor trustees, who otherwise would have been engaged under the Deputyship, with the protected party as the principal beneficiary. This proposal also had the support of the Official Solicitor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Though the Court of Protection could order that the award be paid into a DPT rather than a Deputyship this ran the risk of being considered a decision by the protected party herself as the Court of Protection makes substituted decisions, and as such, could constitute a deprivation of capital such that the award can may be regarded as notional capital.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a novel approach to the difficulties surrounding existing protected parties as dependants in FAA claims. The Court agreed it was in the dependant’s best interests for the sum to be paid into the DPT which had already been established for this purpose with her litigation friend as settlor when considering the principles of s.18 MCA 2005. The court was satisfied there was sufficient safeguards for the protected party within this Trust and it would enable the dependant to benefit from her award of substantial damages without risking her eligibility for statutory funding.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->

Clinical Negligence &#038; Personal Injury | &#8216;Law with Lunch&#8217; Webinar Series | 14 July 2022

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our ‘Law with Lunch’ webinar series in July of bitesize, lunchtime talks continue with Parklane Plowden's award-winning personal injury team to bring you updates covering the legal issues of the moment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"textAlign":"center","level":4} --> <h4 class="has-text-align-center" id="tuesday-22nd-march-2022-12-30-pm-zoom-webinar"><strong><strong>Thursday, 14<sup>th</sup> July 2022</strong>, <strong>12.30 pm, Zoom webinar</strong></strong></h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center">Clinical negligence &amp; personal injury barristers <a href="https://www.parklaneplowden.co.uk/our-barristers/james-murphy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">James Murphy</a> and <a href="https://www.parklaneplowden.co.uk/our-barristers/abigail-telford/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Abigail Telford</a> will discuss  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"textAlign":"center","level":4} --> <h4 class="has-text-align-center" id="section-33-know-your-limitations">'<strong><strong><strong>Pension Loss Calculations: where to start and what to look for</strong></strong></strong>'</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From the latest procedural tips, these sessions are ideal for busy practitioners who want to enjoy their lunch break while updating their legal knowledge.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These events are free, and we expect them to be popular, please book early to avoid disappointment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>For further enquiries or to register, please email <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="mailto:events@parklaneplowden.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">events@parklaneplowden.co.uk</a></span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->