Your solicitor will be keen to keep things as simple as possible for you and to keep you informed along the way as they gather the detailed evidence needed to demonstrate how a brain injury has affected you and your family.
It can be a lengthy process, especially because it often takes time for the effects of brain injury to be fully understood, and you might be required to undergo a range of assessments with different experts that appreciate the injury sustained.
Every case will proceed differently, but in the initial stages they tend to follow a similar pattern. Here’s what you can expect once you’re connected to one of our expert panel:
- The solicitor will have an initial chat over the phone and arrange a time to meet at your convenience – whether at your home, in hospital or at their office. This initial consultation is completely free of charge.
- If the solicitor agrees there is likely to be a claim, they will discuss possible funding options for your case, including Conditional Fee Agreements – commonly known as ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements. You can read more about funding a claim here.
- They will explain how they will build a case and the evidence that will need to be collected. They will try to establish liability by, for example, collecting witness statements, police reports or medical reports in the event of alleged negligence. They will also have to collect evidence as to the effects of the brain injury both in the short term and long term to determine what financial compensation might be appropriate. This could include reports from medical and neurological specialists, case managers, employment and educational specialists amongst others.
- Brain injury cases can take a long time to conclude, but our member solicitors might be able to help to secure interim payments to provide financial support for your immediate needs. Whether they can depends on the circumstances of your injury, but they will discuss all the options with you. Find out more about interim payments here.
- Besides expert legal advice, our solicitors work with a range of other specialists who can provide you with additional support. This includes guidance on welfare and benefits, financial advice, an urgent needs assessment, a public funding advice service and a family co-ordinator, bringing practical help when you need it most as part of a complimentary package of support you receive when you pursue a claim with us. Find out more about additional support from Brain Injury group members here.
We have also put together a guide to the types of questions you should ask your solicitor when consulting about a brain injury claim:
Choosing your solicitor (656.5 KiB)
Useful glossaries and descriptions
However hard our member firms try to put things into layman’s terms, when you’ve not had to deal with the impact of a complex injury before and generally don’t have much to do with medical or legal professionals, some of the jargon could be confusing. So we’ve pulled together glossaries of commonly used clinical and legal terms and acronyms in respect of head and brain injuries that might help shed some light on the terminology. You’ll find our useful glossaries here (links to the glossaries are also below) or you can download PDF versions of both in the ‘Useful Downloads’ section on this page.
Go to the glossary of legal terms
Go to the glossary of clinical terms
The Rehabilitation Code
If you do have a compensation claim, insurers and lawyers may work collaboratively in accordance with the Rehabilitation Code. This information sheet explains the additional help you may be entitled to as part of your claim. Produced by Hudgell Solicitors.
The Rehabilitation Code – a guide for patients with acquired brain injury
The code is a framework to encourage insurers and lawyers involved in a compensation claim to work collaboratively and make rehabilitation a priority. Produced by Hudgell Solicitors.
Suitable for: general interest
Download The Rehabilitation Code – a guide for patients with acquired brain injury (379.8 KiB)
