News
New Direction for Gerard Maye Legal
For many years, Gerard Maye Legal has had a distinguished reputation as a strong local criminal defence practice. Now, with the addition of solicitor John Searby to its team, the practice is expanding into the area of civil litigation. John has been civil litigator for over 20 years, much of that time practising in Sussex. Qualified as a solicitor in 1987, he specialises in personal injury claims, in particular employer’s liability, road traffic accidents and severe injury claims. He also has considerable experience in landlord and tenant disputes, including possession and deposit claims, as well as advising on lease extensions and freehold enfranchisement. He is member of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel and an accredited senior litigator with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).
Managing Director Gerry Maye steered the company through its peer review last year, in which it achieved an ‘Excellence’, Category 1 peer rating in the field of criminal defence work. He recognises the importance of providing a high quality professional legal service to all clients, which includes responding promptly to queries.
The litigation team will be happy to work closely with local agencies, such as Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and to take referrals of personal injury or landlord and tenant matters from solicitors or letting agencies.
Health & Safety Madness?
The press is these days full of articles attacking the “compensation culture” and complaining about “health and safety gone mad!” There are many stories about employers having to wade through health and safety “red tape” because of pointless bureaucratic rules.
But behind the shrill headlines there is another story. That of workers who were injured or even killed because their employer failed to follow simple safety procedures.
A report in a recent article in the Brighton Argus reveals that in Sussex alone nearly 600 people were seriously injured at work. In one case, a 21-year-old was killed while working in the roof space at a factory near Chichester, as a result of an electric shock. (see http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9448775.Hundreds_seriously_hurt_at_work)
Mike Walters, the HSE’s principal inspector in the South East, said: “The family of the worker who lost his life last year had to face Christmas without him. Hundreds of other workers have had their lives changed forever by a major injury. These statistics highlight why we need good health and safety in British workplaces.”
There are many risks of injury to workers that can easily be avoided. Often it is a matter of common sense. For example, back injury can be avoided by providing suitable ‘manual handling’ training. John Searby, Head of Civil Litigation at Gerard Maye Legal, which has offices in Brighton and Littlehampton, has acted for many employees who suffered injuries that could have been avoided had their employer carried out proper risk assessments and provided adequate training. In one case, a worker at a vegetable nursery in West Sussex broke her wrist operating a cherry picker because she had not been given any training on how to operate the machine. She was awarded compensation of £18,000. Any employee or self employed contractor who has been injured at work may be entitled to compensation, which will include compensation for loss of earnings, treatment and care. It is important to get professional advice as early as possible. Gerard Maye Legal provides free initial advice to anyone who has suffered any type of injury which was not their fault. Contact John Searby on johnsearby@gerardmaye.co.uk.
If you were one of the 1.2 million people injured or made ill at work last year, health and safety is not madness.
Its’ Criminal!
Justice Minister Ken Clarke announced in January that there is to be major reform of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. (see BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16798655). This scheme provides compensation to the victims of crimes of violence and is run by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). If someone has been injured by someone’s negligence - for example in a road traffic accident or in the workplace - they can usually recover compensation for their injuries from their opponent because they would have insurance cover. If someone suffers injury because they have been attacked, or subject to abuse, the perpetrator will rarely have enough money to pay compensation and of course will not be insured.
The CICA is funded by the tax payer, is discretionary. When deciding whether or not to pay compensation to a victim of a crime of violence, the CICA will find out if the victim has any previous convictions. It can then reduce, or even refuse to pay, compensation, depending on how serious and how old the convictions are.
Ken Clarke wants to amend the rules to make it impossible for victims of violence to claim compensation if they have any previous convictions, unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. This could mean that someone who suffered serious injury in an unprovoked attack may not be able to claim any compensation because they were convicted of, say possession of cannabis, in their youth.
Although most people who were the victim of a crime of violence claim through the CICA, in some cases a compensation claim can be made to the victim’s employer if the attack took place at work - and the level of compensation may be higher if a claim is made in this way.
Anyone who has been the victim of a crime of violence and wants advice on whether they can claim compensation can contact John Searby, Head of Civil Litigation at Gerard Maye Legal Limited, on 01273 560426 (johnsearby@gerardmaye.co.uk).
Housing Law Update
The Ministry of Justice has produced figures on county court housing possession claims in England and Wales. These show that, while mortgage possession claims are falling, landlord possession claims are rising. There was an increase in just under 10% of claims made by landlords for possession of their property in the last quarter of 2011, compared with the same quarter the previous year. This included claims for ‘accelerated possession’ under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. No doubt the economic situation and the capping of housing benefit is having an effect.
It is important that both landlords and tenants are aware of the steps that need to be taken - and the pitfalls that can arise - before a possession claim is started. At Gerard Maye Legal we can provide professional advice quickly and sympathetically to both landlords and tenants.
Tenancy Deposits
Landlords and tenants can be forgiven for feeling lost at sea over the tenancy deposit scheme. This scheme was introduced in April 2007 to ensure that deposits paid by assured shorthold tenants to landlords were protected by being placed in an “authorised scheme”. The legislation provided penalties (of a sum equivalent to three times the deposit) for landlords if they failed to place the deposit within an authorised scheme and give the tenant the “prescribed information” about the scheme within 14 days.
Two Court of Appeal decisions effectively watered down these schemes by deciding that the landlord would not face any penalty provided the deposit was protected at any time before the made an order under the scheme (Tiensia v Vision Enterprises Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 1224). In the case of Gladehurst Properties Ltd v Hashemi ([2011] EWCA Civ 604) the Court of Appeal also ruled that once the tenancy had ended the landlord could not face any penalty for not protecting the deposit. However, under the Localism Act 2011, which received Royal Assent on 15th November 2011, the law will be amended again, to require the landlord to protect the deposit within 30 days, or face sanctions, and this will apply even after the tenancy has ended. The court would now be given discretion to order a penalty of between one and three times the deposit and will look at all the circumstances of the case, including the reasons why the landlord did not protect the deposit and the length of the delay. However, we do not know when these changes will come into force, so watch this space......
Cycling Pensioner Awarded £15,000 Compensation
A Worthing pensioner has been awarded £15,000 compensation for injuries she received when she was knocked off her bicycle by a lorry.Mrs Maria Moseley, 85 years, was cycling home from work on 29 August 2008 and was travelling along Upper Brighton Road, Worthing. She had crossed the junction and was passing the near side of a lorry waiting for traffic to move, when the lorry started to move and she was knocked off her bike by one of the wheel guards.
Mrs Moseley suffered a fractured pelvis and was taken to Worthing hospital where she was kept in for several weeks. Prior to the accident she had been fit and active, regularly cycling to the shops and to her part time job as a receptionist.
Illegal
At first the lorry driver’s insurers refused to accept fault, claiming that Mrs Moseley was entirely to blame for the accident because she had been overtaking the lorry on the nearside. However, her solicitor, John Searby of Gerard Maye Legal’s personal injury litigation team, pointed out that it is not illegal for cyclists to overtake on the nearside and the Highway Code recognises that this will happen. Rule 151 emphasises that motorists should be aware of cyclists or motorcyclists overtaking on either side.
Eventually, the lorry driver’s insurers agreed to settle the claim on a 50/50 basis and paid out £15,000 in compensation to Mrs Moseley. She is hoping to be back on her bike soon.
Cyclists are probably the most vulnerable group of road users and are frequently put at risk - by irresponsible motorists who open their doors in the path of cyclists, distracted pedestrians who wander onto cycle lanes without looking, or local authorities who neglect to keep the roads properly repaired.
Can you claim compensation?
The number of cyclists suffering accidents will continue to grow while these risks remain. Many bike users either don’t believe they can claim compensation for their injuries, or are put off claiming because of the cost.
If you are not sure whether you have a claim for compensation for injuries suffered in an accident, or if it is not clear who was at fault, it is always better to seek professional advice. Gerard Maye Legal offer an initial free consultation to advise you on the merits of your claim and will often act on a Conditional Fee (or ‘no win no fee’) basis.
Watch Out for those Bins
Refuse collection can be a dangerous as well as a dirty business. You might think bin men (and women) have a fairly easy job, pushing wheelie bins up to the refuse truck - but there are some not so hidden dangers in the job.
The large refuse bins (or ‘1100s’ as they are called) can weigh up to several hundred kg and the refuse collectors rely on the fail safe mechanisms on the hydraulic hoists to stop them falling off and causing injury. However, the mechanisms are not always fail safe. In a prosecution brought by the Health & Safety Executive, Veolia Environmental Services were fined £130,000 when a bin man in London was killed by an 1100 bin falling off the back of the truck.
Gerard Maye Legal was asked to act for another refuse collector from Crawley who seriously injured his knee when an 1100 bin fell off the back of the truck he was working on. We called in a specialist engineer to test the safety mechanism and found that it did not work all the time. Eventually, the refuse company agreed to pay out compensation of over £40,000 for pain and suffering and loss of income. They also paid his legal costs, including the engineer’s fees.
New Homes Feature - Personal Injury
Andrew Kay puts the question to John Searby of Gerard Maye Legal Ltd, specialists in personal injury claims.
Download PFD for full article.
Worthing Man Sees the Light – And Gets £35,000 Compensation
A Worthing man recently received £35,000 in compensation for an injury at work. Gavin Frecknall, 30, was employed by Energys Limited to replace fluorescent lights with energy efficient bulbs in a hospital in London. As he was fitting a new bulb into the unit, it smashed and caused a deep gash to his left hand. As a result, he severed an artery and the nerve to his left index finger. He now has limited use of his left hand.
Gavin got in touch with Accident Line, a claims referral scheme supported by the Law Society.Through them he instructed John Searby, a personal injury solicitor and now Head of Litigation at Gerard Maye Legal Limited, to pursue his compensation claim. His solicitor pointed out that his employers should have supplied him with protective gloves; had they done so, the accident would not have happened, or the injury would not have been so severe. He will have difficulty finding another job in the future, as he cannot use a screwdriver or other common tools any more.
His employers admitted fault and agreed to pay Mr Frecknall £35,000, plus legal costs. After receiving the compensation, Gavin Frecknall said: “I only thought I would get a couple of thousand pounds, I didn’t realise I would be entitled to so much compensation.”
Gavin’s solicitor is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), which campaigns on behalf of injured people and seeks reform of the law to provide better protection for victims of accidents.John Searby has represented accident victims for many years and recognises the importance of health and safety law in protecting employees from injury. He pointed out: “There are very clear regulations telling employers what safety measures they must put in place for their employees. If someone is injured as a result of their employer’s failure to follow those guidelines, they are entitled to compensation for the injury and any financial loss they have suffered - or may suffer in the future - as a result.It is important that injured people get proper legal advice about their claim and what they are entitled to.”
All solicitors who are members of APIL are fully accredited and agree to follow APIL’s Code of Conduct, which aims to promote full and just compensation for all types of injury and campaigns for better safety standards.
If you have had an injury within the last three years and you think someone else was to blame, please telephone John Searby on 01273 560426. We can arrange a free initial consultation.You can also contact APIL by going to www.apil.org.uk.
