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The whole purpose of manhole covers is to allow access to something below the ground but also to keep the area safe when access is not required. Basically, it stops there being a big hole in the middle of the street, which of course is not going to end well if you walk in to it!

However, some manhole covers can be extremely old and as many are made from metal, over the years, they have rusted and become unstable and consequently lead to serious injuries.

There are three main types of accidents that are caused by manhole covers:
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This is something that always seems to worry people when they are considering making a claim – as understandably many people do not like the thought of being put in front of a judge with someone firing questions at them (like you see on the many court dramas on T.V). However, in the majority of civil claims they never get as far as going to court, so there really is no reason that this should deter you from pursuing a claim.

The civil procedure rules – the rules that govern personal injury claims – are specifically designed to stop the need to go to court. They do this through a number of ways with the main one being what is called a Part 36 offer. I will not go into much detail here about these, but they are a good example to show how the rules are designed to deter people from going to court.
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Injuring your knee is usually very painful. As an area of the body that’s prone to injury, you can get anything ranging from some straightforward muscular swelling like a pulled muscle or a stretched ligament to the agony of a torn or ruptured ligament leaving you unable to walk properly for a long time, and even needing surgery.

The problem is that it is too easy to twist your knee to such an extent where you end up rupturing ligaments and needing reconstructive surgery.

A torn ligament may not be so bad, and can be repaired surgically but may be prone to tearing again and will leave you in a lot of pain for some time – but if the whole ligament ruptures, you will likely need a hamstring or patella graft (or similar) where pieces of the hamstring or patellar tendon are taken and fitted in the place of the ruptured ligament (hence the term ‘reconstruction’)
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As a pedestrian, a motor vehicle is a dangerous piece of machinery. The consequences are often devastating when a pedestrian and a vehicle come together in an accident.

Placing fault for an accident involving a pedestrian and a vehicle often depends on the individual circumstances. The main questions to be asked would be what was the speed of the vehicle? When or how quickly did the pedestrian step into the road? And was the driver aware of their surroundings?

Even though a pedestrian could step out suddenly, not giving the vehicle time to react, the law is very pedestrian friendly. With that I mean that the law seems to be built around placing the blame or most of it, on the motorist.
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Contributory negligence can be explained by a hypothetical scenario. Say Joe Bloggs sustained an accident at work whereby he caught his hand in machinery which should have been turned off but the off switch had jammed. Say it came to light that Joe Bloggs forgot to put down the safety screen which was company practice even if the machinery was turned off.

Joe Bloggs may still be able to recover compensation but in this scenario it is likely that the Defendant (i.e. the employer) would allege an amount of contributory negligence as it was Joe Bloggs who failed to put down the safety screen.

It could still be argued that it was not a safe system of work and that the machinery or the off switch was defective causing the accident. The Defendant may argue that Joe Bloggs was partly at fault for his own accident. Contributory negligence is often dealt with in terms of a percentage. The Defendant may argue that Joe Bloggs is 90% at fault for the accident whereas Joe Bloggs himself may suggest that his actions or failure to put down the safety screen meant he was 20% at fault for the accident. You can see that it all depends on the circumstances of the particular case.
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It’s actually quite common for people not to be happy with their medical report – particularly in road accident cases. So why is this? Is the medical expert you have been sent to no good? Are your solicitors just not listening to you? What can you do?

To address something first, let me tell you the point of the medical report. We lawyers are, unfortunately, not medical experts. To win a claim for compensation, you need to commonly satisfy two key elements – that the injury was caused by a breach of duty, and that the injuries were caused as a result of the incident or accident. In legal speak – liability and causation.

We need a suitable medical expert to examine you, discuss your injuries and suffering with you, and look in to your medical past. The expert, who is independent and has a duty not to you, but to the courts, to provide their impartial medical opinion, writes a report containing all the facts needed for a lawyer to prove that your injuries were caused by negligence and value the claim. So if you are a genuine client, what could go wrong?
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If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you are already aware of what foot drop, or drop foot (as it is also referred to) is. But just in case…

What is Foot Drop?
As a brief description, as I am lucky enough to have this deceptively simple sounding condition, foot drop is the inability to raise your foot up and move it left due to some form of problem a peripheral nerve; in my case, the Common Peroneal Nerve. It may sound like something small – but unfortunately, with this condition, you cannot walk properly without a corrective splint.
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Bouncy castle accident claims may be more common than you think. Unfortunately many accidents on bouncy castles can and do cause severe injuries – and these injuries are often to children or minors. Of course, bouncy castles can be a good source of entertainment for children but they are not as safe as we may suspect them to be.

One major issue seems to be with the variety of age groups that use bouncy castles. The danger here is that young children (such as at the ages of 2 to 10) are using the same bouncy castle at the same time as young teenagers (aged 13 to 16) for example. This is a recipe for disaster.

As we are all aware, children grow up at different speeds and some children aged 13 to 16 can be as heavy and as big as adults. This in turn causes a big danger to the younger more vulnerable children as they could be crushed or injured quite easily. Despite this danger being very clear and obvious, some children are still put into this dangerous situation.
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Although it is never a good idea to get in a vehicle when the driver has been drinking, it does not mean that you cannot make a claim for personal injury if the trip ends in an accident – and let’s be honest, this is more likely than not.

The normal guideline is that as a passenger, you are an innocent party and cannot be at fault for the accident. This therefore entitles you to receive 100% of any compensation that is awarded.

However, getting into a vehicle knowing the driver has been drinking does have consequences for a claim for personal injury. The insurers of the driver of the vehicle will more than likely argue contributory negligence for passengers making a claim for personal injury in these types of circumstances.
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Claims against the hospital – commonly medical negligence claims – are bound to be more sensitive that most personal injury claims.

We are fortunate in our country that we have access to the National Health Service (NHS) but we are still entitled to make a claim if we have sustained injury or have been adversely affected as a result of medical negligence. A first thought is that it can seem harsh to sue the NHS, given that it provides medical treatment free of charge and in theory it is only there to help people who need treatment.

On the other hand people pay taxes and in effect it is these taxes which run the NHS – so ultimately it is a debate in itself whether it is a free service. Another point is that the NHS, as with a private company, has insurance in place for the sole purpose of paying out compensation to injured victims. The fact is that there is no shame in making a compensation claim; if you have sustained a genuine injury as a result of medical negligence then it is your right to claim. The insurance the NHS has is actually more of a self insured department called the NHS Litigation Authority.
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