Case Study: Brachial Plexus Injury After a Motorcycle Accident
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Sophie Davies
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A short ride to work changed our client’s life in seconds. As an experienced motorcyclist made his way along a familiar route, a moment of danger on the road threw him from his bike and into a roadside lamp post.
He survived, but the collision left him with catastrophic injuries to his arms and legs, including a severe brachial plexus injury that took away the use of his dominant arm. This is how our personal injury team helped him rebuild his life and secure the compensation he needed.
The accident
Our client was riding to work, a journey he had made many times before. As he passed a van on the nearside, the situation in front of him turned dangerous in an instant. He was knocked from his motorcycle and struck a lamp post with considerable force.
The impact caused devastating injuries. Motorcyclists have almost no protection in a collision, so even a single moment of another road user’s carelessness can cause lifelong harm.
The injuries our client suffered
The force of the collision left our client with a combination of serious orthopaedic and nerve injuries. He sustained:
- Multiple open fractures to both his lower limbs and his arms
- A severe brachial plexus injury, leaving no useful function in his dominant arm
- Foot drop, which affected his ability to walk and balance
- Severe neuropathic pain (nerve pain that is often constant and difficult to treat)
The brachial plexus injury was the most life-altering of these. Losing the use of a dominant arm affects almost every daily task, from dressing and cooking to working and caring for a family.
What is a brachial plexus injury?
The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that runs from the spine, through the neck and shoulder, and down into the arm and hand. These nerves control movement and sensation in the shoulder, arm and fingers.
In a high-impact accident, the head and shoulder can be forced apart violently. This stretches or tears the brachial plexus nerves. When the nerves are torn away from the spinal cord, the injury is often permanent.
The result can be a partial or complete loss of function in the affected arm. Many people also live with severe nerve pain, muscle wasting and a lasting psychological impact. Brachial plexus injuries are among the most serious that a motorcyclist can suffer, and they frequently require years of specialist treatment.
How our team built the claim
A claim of this severity needs careful handling from the outset. Our personal injury team focused on two things at once: securing the support our client needed to recover, and building the evidence to prove the full value of his losses.
The work involved:
- Gathering detailed medical evidence from specialists in orthopaedics, neurology and pain management
- Assessing our client’s long-term needs, including rehabilitation, care, adapted equipment and future loss of earnings
- Arranging early access to rehabilitation so his recovery could begin without delay
- Working with experts to understand the lasting impact of the brachial plexus injury on his independence
Serious injury claims are rarely straightforward. The value of a case like this depends on a careful, individual assessment of how the injuries affect a person for the rest of their life. That is why advice from a specialist personal injury solicitor matters so much.
The outcome
After building a thorough case, our team secured a substantial settlement for our client. The compensation was structured to cover his ongoing care, rehabilitation, specialist equipment and the income he could no longer earn.
No settlement can undo an injury of this kind. What it can do is remove the financial worry, fund the right treatment and support, and give our client the security to focus on living as full a life as possible.
How the settlement supports our client’s rehabilitation
For someone with a severe brachial plexus injury, rehabilitation is rarely a quick or simple process. It can continue for years and draws on a wide range of specialists. A well-structured settlement makes that ongoing support possible.
In our client’s case, the compensation was designed to fund the things he needs to recover and adapt, including:
- Specialist physiotherapy and occupational therapy to maintain function and rebuild independence
- Ongoing pain management for the severe neuropathic pain caused by the nerve damage
- Adapted equipment and home adaptations to make daily tasks safer and easier with the use of one arm
- Psychological support to help with the emotional impact of a life-changing injury
- A case manager to coordinate his treatment and keep his recovery on track
Many of our clients also need support returning to work or retraining for a different role. Where an injury affects earning capacity, the settlement can provide for that loss and fund the help needed to find a new way forward.
Securing this kind of support early matters. We work to arrange rehabilitation as soon as possible, often well before a claim concludes, so that recovery is not left waiting on the legal process.
How we can help
Osbornes Law has a specialist personal injury team with extensive experience in serious and catastrophic injury claims, including brachial plexus injuries, fractures and nerve damage following road accidents. We understand the medical complexity of these cases and the practical challenges our clients face every day. Our lawyers handle the legal side and deal with the insurers, so you can focus on your recovery.
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury in a motorcycle accident that was not your fault, we can help you understand your options. Most serious injury claims are handled on a no win, no fee basis, so there is no financial risk in finding out where you stand.
Call us on 020 7485 8811 or fill in the contact form below.
★★★★★“At the end of 2016, I was involved in a very serious motorbike accident when a lorry turned across a junction and hit me. I suffered multiple fractures and a very severe injury to my brachial plexus which meant that I lost all movement in my right arm… I am so pleased with Osbornes Law and my legal team. I was very well looked after and they have really good connections with doctors and experts.”
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“Osbornes fields a specialist personal injury team with standout expertise in catastrophic trauma, regularly securing multimillion-pound settlements in spinal, brain, and amputation cases. “
“Osbornes is a well-regarded personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims.”
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Rob Aylott is adept at handling sensitive and complex catastrophic injury claims.
Sam Collard, head of cycling, specialises in severe injury and fatal accident cases.
Rob Aylott leads on amputation disputes, often working with major trauma units.
Department head Sophie Davies handles severe injury and fatality matters with a focus on early rehabilitation.
Osbornes fields a specialist personal injury team with standout expertise in catastrophic trauma, regularly securing multimillion-pound settlements in spinal, brain, and amputation cases.
Excellent firm with a good insight into and prosecution of catastrophic PI work handled by an experienced team.
Osbornes fields a solid team of high quality practitioners, active in a range of catastrophic injury claims.
Osbornes prepares cases well; the whole team is good and lawyers there know their stuff.
They deal with people compassionately and take on the right amount of detail. The firm has some really brilliant key solicitors.
The personal injury team is responsive and its level of service towards clients and other professionals is exceptional and high quality
The team offers specialist expertise in cycling-related injury claims and regularly acts for foreign nationals.
It has considerable experience in cases arising from motor accidents and accidents at work
Osbornes is a well-regarded personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims.
Their team includes bright, hard-working solicitors dedicated to achieving successful outcomes for their clients from partner level to paralegal. Their client care is exceptional.
They are a team who are highly respected in the PI sector.
This is an excellent PI team doing a broad range of PI work.
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims, with notable strength in acting for European clients for whom English is not a first language.
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims
Osbornes’ ‘highly respected‘ personal injury team is experienced in a range of complex, high-value claims.
"Osbornes always provides work of excellent quality and the advice is sound."
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'The team deals with multi-million pound, often multifaceted claims, involving such factors as severe brain, psychiatric, gynaecological and spinal injury, major trauma, amputation and fatality.'
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"The team at Osbornes deals with catastrophic injury claims with the same professionalism as the largest firms, but provides a much more client-focused experience."
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"This team has carved out an exceptional reputation in catastrophic injury work."
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"This is a really excellent personal injury team that can be regarded as one of the major players in the London claimant personal injury market."
"Osbornes have managed to recruit a team of outstanding catastrophic injury lawyers who are at the top of the game."
"They punch well above their weight. The quality of service they provide equals that of any of the larger top-name firms in this area"
Ben Posford is fiercely bright, with an unrivalled passion for his clients’ cases. His encyclopaedic knowledge of all things PI is second to none. His foresight and commercial nous have propelled Osbornes into the highest echelons of the market where they rightly belong.
The firm has an excellent and innovative line in cases involving non-English speaking claimants, managed by recruiting paralegals with multi-language skills – an impressive route for expansion of the caseload.
Great expanding team with expertise and respect in the sector. Led by a commercially savvy and business minded team.
A really excellent group of PI solicitors, notable for their individual quality.’
A niche firm that punches well above its weight in the catastrophic injury sector, borne out by the quality of work they obtain.
This combination of experience and diligence reaps massive rewards for clients, Osbornes being well known in the industry as a fantastic firm.
The Osbornes personal injury team now comprises some of the most technically adept and hard hitting lawyers in the business.
Ben Posford is one of London’s best catastrophic injury lawyers, in my view. He is a real brain injury specialist.
Excellent coverage of personal injury, and traumatic brain injury. There is a real specialism in claimants who do not speak English as a first language.
The group is noted for its expertise in matters relating to cycling injuries, and is the official legal partner of the London Cycling Campaign charity.
To complement its strong reputation for high-value and complex personal injury work, the firm continues to develop its 'excellent and innovative line in cases involving non-English speaking claimants'
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Osbornes now has a team of highly experienced personal injury lawyers; particularly strong on high-value quantum cases, workplace accidents and claims involving foreign workers injured in the UK.
The team provides fantastic strength-in-depth for personal injury claims. It is also particularly well placed to service clients from Eastern Europe with specialist native language speakers. From the smallest case to a multimillion-pound spinal injury case, Osbornes has the right staff to manage every claim.
Ben Posford remains pre-eminent in his field with expert understanding of litigating cases of the upmost severity. His experience builds on Stuart Kightley’s running of the firm with recent partner additions of Rob Aylott making a fantastic addition.
A firm going from strength-to strength-which retains its client care whilst being able to offer a full personal injury service.
Beneath Ben Posford’s calm and reassuring presence, which clients love, lies a formidable tactical and legal brain. His experience tells and he gets it right at every stage of the process from arranging the best possible rehabilitation, to ensuring, so far as possible, a polite relationship with those acting for the defendant in order to ensure best and early resolution of the claim.
"Clients say he is very impressive, in terms of both his experience and his management of the personal injury team."
"They have an expanding profile in personal injury and clinical negligence and offer a superb, broad service in accidents abroad, enabled by their recruitment of bilingual legal executives who can guide non-English speakers through complex litigation."
"Solid personal injury practice well equipped to advise on high-value and high-profile claims arising from fatalities and severe head and spinal injuries."
"Offers specialist expertise in cycling-related injury claims."
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"The hard-working, thorough and committed Robert Aylott, who brings significant heavyweight personal injury experience."
"Key team members include the energetic and personable Stuart Kightley who is head of the personal injury department."
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"Catastrophic injury cases head Ben Posford is an excellent practical litigator who offers exceptional service."
"Stuart is also very experienced in advising on fatal accidents and workplace accidents."
Thank you for the hard work and patience and for being so patient with my constant questions.
"I have found Osbornes to be thorough, clear and understanding from the initial call. They do exactly what they say they will and with passion! I would recommend them to anyone".
Very good efficient service. Would not hesitate to use again.
I will use Osbornes for any future needs.
I don't think I could have asked for anything more. One of the best dealings I've had with the legal profession.
Sam was excellent and very professional in dealing with our claim.
Head of the personal injury department, Stuart Kightley is a first-rate practitioner, wholly focused on getting his client the best outcome in a pragmatic, sensible and consensual manner.
As a real specialist in spinal cord injuries, Ben Posford is always looking at new angles on how to maximise his cases.
Ben Posford is one of the best catastrophic injury lawyers around.
They provide exceptional service, great knowledge and understanding of the law, excellent client care and tactical nous
Stuart Kightley is praised for his expertise in catastrophic and fatal claims. Clients say he is very impressive, in terms of both his experience and his management of the personal injury team.
My claim was dealt with efficiently and professionally. Communication was excellent, and timely. Shrewd and sound advice was provided at every stage of the claim from beginning through to completion. On the basis of my personal experience I would strongly recommend Osbornes.
I just wish to thank you for your hard work and successful outcome. I am pleased with the result and would recommend you and your firm to anyone in the future.
Ben Posford … is ‘tactically astute’ and ‘one of the best personal injury solicitors around’.
Ben Posford ‘knows how to maximise the value of the claim for his clients’.
