Injury Compensation News

Mr Justice John Quirke has spoken out against delays in introducing “periodic payment orders” for personal injury compensation cases in which catastrophic injuries have been sustained. Describing the current lump-sum award system as “a lottery situation”, the chairman of the Working Group on Medical Negligence has been pressing for more than a year for a periodic payment system to be introduced.

The judge was addressing lawyers representing the State and Health Service Executive when his concerns about delays in the promised legislation were made public. Mr Justice John Quirke told the assembly that the informal approval of a life-long payments system had already saved the State “tens of millions” of Euros, however he claimed that seriously ill people would be in an unsatisfactory position if the laws were not speedily introduced.

The judge brought to the lawyers attention two specific cases which are due for review in October 2011.

The first concerned Brid Courtney of Ardfert, County Kerry, who was awarded an interim personal injury settlement of 2 million Euros in compensation for alleged negligence at her birth. Now suffering the consequences of birth-acquired brain damage, Brid will need lifelong care – care which should be paid for in periodic payments if legislation is passed in time.

The second case revolved around Elaine Lennon of Balbriggin, County Dublin, who is now severely disabled due to the failure of the Castle Mill Medical Centre to properly diagnose a brain infection during her pregnancy. Elaine too was awarded in excess of 2 million Euros as an interim settlement on the basis that she would benefit from the periodic payments structure once legislation was introduced.

In his comments to the lawyers, Mr Justice John Quirke expressed that if the State failed to quickly make its intentions clear about how soon periodic payment legislation was to be introduced, judges would have no option but to revert to sanctioning lump sum payments – at great expense to the State and Health Service Executive.

A man whose life was shattered in a hit and run accident in 2005 has been awarded 2 million Euros compensation by the High Court in Dublin.
Paul Gogarty (35) from Kingscourt, County Cavan, was walking home from a night out with friends, when he was run over by a vehicle which failed to stop. Due to the accident, Paul – formerly a factory worker – sustained severe bilateral traumatic brain injury.
As the vehicle responsible for Paul’s injuries was never traced, a claim for road traffic accident compensation was brought against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) through Paul’s brother, Oliver.
Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns heard in the High Court how Paul’s injuries have left him requiring lifelong care and ongoing treatment for post-traumatic epilepsy. The consequences of the accident have also caused persistent cognitive and behavioural problems.
He also heard that an offer of compensation for 2 million Euros had been made by MIBI, which the family had agreed to accept. Approving the settlement, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns noted that an application will now be made to make Paul a ward of court.

Question: What sort of person tries to mislead a judge in court?

Answer: The type of person that is stupid enough to update a social networking site with evidence that contradicts their testimony.

Eric Sedie of Corte Madera, California, had his $2.5m personal injury lawsuit to dramatically reduced to $297,624.66 by US Magistrate Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte due “inconsistencies.” There was no doubt that Eric Sedie had indeed sustained real injuries in 2006 during a collision with a United States Postal Service truck. What was disputed was the impact of the injuries, which Sedie claimed made his life “hell on earth.”
Judge Laporte found that “testimony revealed a pattern of exaggerations and inconsistencies” and in particular identified a MySpace entry “in which he described painting as a frustrating activity when his arm hairs would get caught in paint” – despite claiming he was unable to paint. Sedie was in fact lucky that Judge Laporte did not throw out the entire case.

The wrong lesson to take from this is that you need to avoid activities that will leave photographic or other evidence that you are lying in court, such as updating your MySpace or Facebook account. A cynical person who is just interested in gaining the maximum compensation might simply abstain from various activities until the claim has been settled (which can be fairly fast now, due to the benefits of the Injuries Board Ireland). No activity means no evidence of activity. This is particularly true in whiplash injury claims, where whiplash symptoms are often difficult to prove so the case often depends on evidence about restricted work and social activities.

The correct lesson is that honesty is best policy. Not because you might get caught and get no injury compensation. In the unlikely event that a personal injury claim actually goes to court, lies and inconsistencies will be probably spotted by the judge. The reason for honesty is that dishonesty is simply morally wrong.

MySpace and other social media sites such as Facebook will continue to be used by defence lawyers in personal injury claims.

The State Claims Agency (SCA) director Ciaran Breen has backed the group investigating the feasibility of new legislation to allow for annual payments to victims of catastrophic injuries to replace the current system of large lump sum payments.

Speaking in an interview with Michael Brennan of The Irish Independent, Breen stated “We here in the SCA have been advocating that compensation in catastrophic injury cases should be paid by periodic payment order rather than the traditional lump sum because we feel that the transfer of the investment and mortality risk to the State is the proper thing to do.”

A working group chaired by Mr Justice Quirke has been set up to examine of compensation payments for catastrophic injuries can or should be awarded by way of periodical payment orders. The  group includes High Court judges, solicitors, barristers, and representatives from various organizations such as the State Claims Agency, Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland, Department of Justice, Insurance Federation of Ireland, and the Courts Service.