Specialist Legal Advice from Neil Hudgell Solicitors
Our award-winning brain injury experts have a wealth of experience to support you. We are proud to be recognised nationally for our fierce commitment to our clients, championing their needs well beyond the end of their legal claim.
Serious head traumas can happen due to a number of causes and can be suffered in many situations.
At Hudgells, we often see brain injuries as a result of:
- Road Traffic Accidents
- Clinical/Medical Negligence (e.g. failure to diagnose infections)
- Accidents at Work
- Assaults (e.g unprovoked attack from member of the public)
- Falls from height
- Sporting accidents
Our team will place a focus not just on securing substantial compensation, but also on ensuring the best quality of life for the future.
- Immediate practical help – Dealing with issues from speaking to police, insurers and employers to assisting with probate.
- Medical assessments and treatment – We will work to arrange rehabilitation and mental health support.
- Buddy support – Where we can, we introduce clients to ‘buddies’ – others who have suffered similar injuries.
- Financial assistance – We always seek early interim payments to provide the support required, and signpost clients to charitable funds.
- Long-term support – Not only do we focus on securing the highest possible damages, we also signpost you to independent investment advice to ensure your damages are protected for your future.
Our team
Samuel McFadyen – Serious Injury
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/samuel-mcfadyen
David Sears – Serious Injury
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/david-sears
Mark Ellis – Serious Injury
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/mark-ellis
Paul McClorry – Serious Injury & Accidents Abroad
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/paul-mcclorry
Kerry Gillespie – Serious Injury
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/kerry-gillespie
Tracy Thames – Criminal Injuries
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/tracy-thames
Terry Wilcox – Inquests and Public Inquiries
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/terry-wilcox
Eve Carter – Court Of Protection, Trust, Wills, Power Of Attorney,
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/eve-carter
Chris Moore – Medical Negligence
https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk/our-people/chris-moore
How we’ve helped our clients
Brandon’s story
A broken family which has been put back together’
Brandon Steeley was just 15 months old when he suffered a severe brain injury in a car crash which also claimed the lives of his mother Jenny, and six-year-old sister Kodi.
Due to the devastating impact on their family, Brandon’s father Barrie gave up work to care for him and his elder brother Morgan, who was four at the time.
The family were put in touch with Hudgell Solicitors, and over the past decade a holistic support package has been provided to aid Brandon’s recovery, independence, educational development and quality of life, whilst also supporting Morgan and their father.
Support has enabled Brandon to overcome obstacles at each step of his life, with initial support focused on home-based rehabilitation, counselling and care, provided by brain injury rehabilitation specialists and a specialist brain injury case worker who the family describe as a ‘dear friend’.
In more recent years, Brandon has attended a college for children with special education needs, with a dedicated support worker constantly by his side.
A number of interim damages payments have been made to the family, helping cover Mr Steeley’s loss of earnings in the early years, ensuring the family did not suffer financial hardship, and covering the cost of much-needed holidays which the family say they will cherish forever.
Now aged 19, the focus is on ensuring Brandon is provided with a future package of support to live as independent and comfortable a life as possible.
Mr Steeley said: “I can’t begin to describe the support we’ve had over the years. The best way to describe it is possibly like somebody coming along, putting an arm around us as a family, and taking us under their wings to make sure we’ve had all the help and support we needed. That support has been crucial for us all, not just Brandon. They’ve taken basically a broken family and glued it back together.”
How Lewis rebuilt his life after 35% chance of survival
Lewis Foster
Lewis suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident when he was just 17 years old. A specialist team was assembled to provide a comprehensive rehabilitation programme for Lewis, led by a dedicated brain injury case manager, with a focus on ensuring support was continually adapted to meet his needs as they changed throughout his recovery.
The help of a clinical neuropsychologist and neuropsychiatrist, covered as part of our legal support, was key in helping him overcome the struggle of accepting how his life has changed, giving him methods to cope with times of low mood. Lewis has used part of a £1 million damages settlement to purchase a new home for himself and his partner.
Compensation for our client who suffered fractured skull in unprovoked group attack
Our client suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain when the victim of an unprovoked assault has been awarded a five figure settlement by a Government scheme which provides compensation to people who are the victims of violent crime.
The man, who asked not to be named, was attacked by a group people whilst waiting for a taxi after a night out with friends in March of this year.
Although doctors have told him he should make a good recovery over the next 12 months, the man says the attack has had a ‘horrific impact’ on his life, and he fears he will never be the same again.
“ Hudgell Solicitors were absolutely brilliant and couldn’t have done more for me. Tracy was fantastic, she answered every question I had and anything that needed doing she sorted for me. I was really lucky to have her.”
Tracy Thames, of CICA claims specialist at Hudgells, made the application for damages on our client’s behalf,
“Many people are not aware that to be awarded damages through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, it is not always required for the matter to have been through the courts or for an attacker to have been prosecuted,” she said.
“Even if the people causing an injury have not been identified, charged with, or convicted of a crime, compensation awards can be offered if there is enough evidence to show that a crime was committed. That was the case here as there was no dispute that our client was clearly attacked and suffered serious injuries.”