William Waldron QC and Mark Mulrooney settle catastrophic injury case for £4.4m

April 19, 2021

The Claimant, a 28 year old semi-professional snowboarder, was catastrophically injured in a road traffic accident in 2017 when the motorbike that he was riding was hit by the Defendant when changing lanes.

The Claimant had no recollection of his accident but it was caught on CCTV.

The Claimant was unlicensed and uninsured and was riding his motorbike in a lane which was reserved exclusively for buses, taxis and bicycles. The Claimant, who was in dark clothing, with no high visibility markings, was undertaking a line of slow moving traffic, at a speed which was approaching 50% higher than the speed limit.

Primary liability was conceded but contributory negligence was in issue.

In consequence of his accident, the Claimant suffered complete tetraplegia due to multiple cervical and thoracic fractures. There was a head injury and other severe orthopaedic injuries.

Settlement for a lump sum of £4.4m was secured on the basis that the Claimant gave no credit for state funding which had an annual value of approaching £100,000. Allowing for contributory negligence this suggested a full liability valuation of £14m.