Our client is an elderly lady suffering from alcoholic dementia. She was involved in a high speed motor vehicle accident where her vehicle was “T Boned” at an intersection. The car seat caused numerous fractures upon her person.
The primary claim in this matter was past and future medical and treatment expensesas well as past and future domestic care and assistance. There was no doubt that our client’s injuries exceeded ten per cent Whole Person Impairment.
The primary issue that was in contention was whether our client had sustained a brain injury as a consequence of the motor vehicle accident or whether the client, in her mental faculties, was a continuing process of alcoholic dementia. Ultimately, there was medical evidence that could have been for or against our client.
This matter was initially filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, but was then transferred to the District Court of New South Wales. The filing of this matter in a Higher Court set the tone for the negotiations.
Negotiations to settle this matter had stalled for approximately six months where both the Plaintiff and the Defendant’s Solicitors stood our ground.
The matter was then agreed to proceed to mediation and an outcome was obtained in our client’s favour in excess of $800,000.00.
Although our client was prepared to accept a substantially less offer, it was through the trust that we were able to elicit from our client which allowed her to stand firm for another two months to obtain a substantially larger amount in this settlement.
