Press Release

Interesting case against Brent Council- Polish client successfully claims £22,500

Polish client from Willesden has just won £22,500 in a long and hard-fought case against Brent Council after she tripped on the pavement outside a school where she had been at choir practice, injuring her ankle and knee. As is so often the case, the inspection system had failed and the area was not well lit, but the Council maintained the injured woman should have looked where she was going.

As the months went on, our client found that not only could she not cope with her normal work with children, but her knee got steadily worse, although her ankle got better. Because she started limping and walking oddly, her hip began to ache and other aches and pains followed. Not surprisingly, she missed her sports and walking holidays, gained weight and became completely dispirited.

The Council continued to argue the case even after it admitted the defective pavement was their fault, querying the connection between the fall and the disabilities. They instructed an expert who gave medical evidence of a knee condition our client already had before the accident, which had caused no symptoms. They said that accounted for all of the problems after the first few weeks, and was the cause of two operations the injured lady went through. They questioned whether she worked at all at the time of the fall. They made low settlement offers reflecting their view that all the lost earnings, lost pension, and the client’s need for help from her husband, all had nothing to do with the accident. The client was determined, however, and HPW backed her, gathering copious documentary and witness evidence and putting questions to the experts to ensure the best result possible.

Over four years from the fateful evening at choir practice and just a couple of weeks before the trial, a compromise was reached and, although our client says her leg will never look like it did before her operations, she can at last plan some much-needed holidays and start to put the distressing events behind her. Most importantly, she has finally been able to return to regular work, although she still cannot kneel or crouch, or cook for parties, or play tennis. Brent Council, for its part, may now have learned that simply rejecting a claim and hoping it will disappear is, if the claimant has a strong legal team, not an easy or cheap option.

Hope Liebersohn