Experience
Stuart has extensive experience in defending catastrophic injury cases arising from road traffic accidents and liability claims. He has focussed on defendant work since 2008 and has successfully run large teams of large loss and catastrophic injury lawyers before joining DWF.
Stuart takes a specialist interest in pedestrian and cyclist liability claims and regularly updates clients with case law and judgments arising from such incidents. He is regularly instructed to carry out initial accident investigations including taking witness testimony, obtaining relevant police disclosure, completing drive through / photographic analysis of accident locations and offering comprehensive insights into liability investigations with regards to accident reconstruction.
He has developed a nice interest in dealing with amputations and prosthetic rehabilitation on which he has prepared presentations and articles for clients in order to keep abreast of technological developments and horizon scanning for the future. This specialist interest has recently been of huge personal significance to Stuart and his family after his father recently suffered an above knee amputation as a result of an RTA which has given him even further insight into the trauma and personal impact such injuries have on claimants.
Recent Cases
- Farrington v Menzies-Haines [2019] EWHC 1297 - Stuart successfully defended an interim payment application for £450,000. Liability was admitted but the defendant raised arguments on causation of injury. There was a significant gap between what the claimant was seeking and what the defendant was prepared to concede. Just because liability was admitted, the Court cannot assume the claimant will obtain judgement for the sum sought where causation is disputed. The Court could not be satisfied there would not be a real risk of an overpayment to the claimant, although in fact that that sets the bar too high; any risk of an overpayment needs to be avoided.
- Stuart was recently involved in a hit and run case where the claimant was left with life changing neurological and neuropsychological consequences meaning the claimant required a 24-hour care regime and support workers on a daily basis. With a corroborative approach to rehabilitation with the claimant’s team, regular pathway meetings and agreements reached on disclosure, experts reports and payments of interims to progress the claim, the claimant agreed to fully support a Care Act assessment for Statutory Funding. As a result of that process the claimant is now in receipt of direct payments equating to more than £80,000 per annum.
- Recently settling a claim for an above knee amputee in the sum of £1.9m. The claimant, a 34-year-old male, sadly lost his leg as a result of an RTA in the workplace. Through active rehabilitation and case management the claimant was able to trial a number of different microprocessor controlled limbs to suit his needs which meant he could ambulate on foot, consider some sort of a return to work in the future and live as independently as possible. The importance of testing limbs properly, in an appropriate environment, meant the claimant could make the most informed decision of what was best for him and his quality of life.
- Successfully pleading fundamental dishonesty against a claimant with significant orthopaedic injuries who was claiming in excess of £1m, resulting in the claimant discontinuing his claim and receiving no compensation for his injuries.