The Health & Safety Review - www.healthandsafetyreview.ie - has reported details of a groundbreaking settlement, under which an injured worker will immediately be paid general damages - and in the future will have his medical expenses covered and be paid an annual income - were disclosed in the High Court recently.

The form of the settlement, known as a structured settlement, is groundbreaking in Ireland, though common in many countries. The settlement comes as a working group, chaired by High Court judge, Mr Justice John Quirke, is examining how a system of periodic payments for catastrophic injuries might be introduced into the Irish compensation system.

The Case
As reported in the Irish Times, the case arose as a result of an incident in which a heavy sliding gate came off its shutters and fell on a security guard, who suffered a brain injury and injuries to his pelvis, leg and head. The injured worker is currently being cared for in a specialist unit operated by Acquired Brain Injury Ireland.

Following the accident, the family of the injured worker sued Iarnrod Eireann and others. Iarnrod Eireann took the lead role in the defence. Liability was admitted and under the terms of the settlement, Iarnrod Eireann has agreed to pay the injured worker:

* €250,000 for general and special damages
* The cost of his annual medical expenses, currently €160,000 a year
* A monthly income of €1,200 for future loss of earnings up to age 65 and on top of that to cover his tax obligations
* The payments are index-linked.

When the details of the settlement were put to the High Court for approval - because the injured worker is now a ward of court, the settlement had to be approved by the Court - the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Kearns, who described it as “historic” and said it was “imaginative, forward-looking and eminently sensible”.

The settlement approved by Mr Justice Kearns is an interim settlement and has been entered into in anticipation that the Government will enact legislation to facilitate structured settlements. In anticipation of such legislation, the case has been adjourned and will come back before the court in October 2011.

Structured Settlements
There are a number of definitions of what a structured settlement is, which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Coming up with a definition for Ireland will be one of the tasks facing Mr Justice Quirke’s working group.

Application To EL And PL Cases
While it is clear from the working group’s terms of reference that medical negligence cases were an important consideration in deciding to set up the group, the Review reports that it is clear from the Iarnrod Eireann case that catastrophic injuries can also arise in EL and PL cases, so the issue is one that health and safety advisors need to be aware of.

Further information is available on the Health & Safety Review website, which is a subscription service.

2 Recent Cases on The Workings of the Injuries Board .

1 case decided what a "vunerable Client" was or was not as was the case here .
The other was what happens if you don't lodge a medical with the Application.
The answer is......Thanks to Judge Bermingham nothing as you still should be allowed bring a claim .
Don't push it though ....I've had cases where if I have no medical get the hospital notes and give to a retired Specialist & he'll turn it into medical quick enough. Nobody should push a deadline!!!

7 TIPS for when you appear in Court

Seven Tips for when you appear in Court.

Show up:
if you are on a summons, and the charge is returnable to that date. You should make sure that you were better in person, whether or not you have legal representation. Some judges take it as disrespect to the court they are sitting in if the person is not there to answer the charge.

Dress as you would for an interview:
It is just that an interview between you and the judge he may never have seen before and you may not want to see him again. People make impressions on what they see with their own eyes.

Take the Oath:
whether you're a Christian or some other religion you are required to swear or affirm the evidence that you're going to give. Make sure you stand straight up and look like it means something to you. No slouching and no hand in pocket or chewing gum. All these factors reduce your credibility and the evidence you give.

Address only the judge:
Watch how professional witnesses such as guards give their evidence to the court. They are focused on the judge and nobody else. People worry about what to call the judge, but in most cases prefacing the words you're giving with Judge is sufficient especially in the District Court.

Get copies of any statements you gave to the guards in advance of any hearing:
You are entitled to these and your solicitor will need them to see what statement if any you may relating to the charge. The court will generally adjourn the first listing of the case to allow the statements pass over to the accused or his legal representative.

Ensure you understand what is said about you:
if you can not hear or do not understand what is said, be sure to tell the judge and ask for an explanation especially if English is not your native language.

Jury summons:
if you receive a summons is your civic duty to attend on the date listed. You may be challenged by legal advisers for an accused even though you were chosen at random from the jury list. If you are pressing business, you should advise the sitting judge, and they will decide whether you can be excused or not.

Nothing in this noteshall constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for consultation with qualified legal adviser in relation to your legal rights and responsibilities.

The war of attrition between the injuries board and solicitors in relation to payment of costs continues.............

By way of background the injuries board was set up would be stated intention not pay for any costs if a claimant want to bring a claim for compensation. The result is if you are blameless in an accident the money received in compensation must be used to pay for expert advice on value of the claim and how to bring the claim itself.
The injuries board maintain you can larch your own claim make an assessment yourself from their book while on website and generally be satisfied that you will gain proper value for an injury suffered. It follows the same logic that you can service your own car, build your own house and probably self-medicate itself......... some can do it but not everybody.

The reality since the start of the act in 2003 is that 96% employ legal advisers concerning their claim.
There has been some payment for costs where the claimant is deemed to be a vulnerable person but in true Irish legislation drafting terms there is no definition as to who is a vulnerable person.

It is sensible to all times to say all claims are vulnerable and see what the board makes of the application. There is a rough rule upon which says EUR400 plus VAT can be payable in such cases.
On reading issues to court, the lawyers won the first round in that anything that wasn't how to seek independent advice and the early efforts by the injuries board to reduce restrict lawyer access have been rebuffed by the courts. This is on the basis that in any matter concerning legal rights, whether criminal or civil courts will recognise the right to legal advice.

This latest skirmish seems to have gone to the Injuries Board. This was an application by two polish people to claim they were vulnerable and entitled to some contribution towards costs.
Judge Ryan in the High Court if delivered a judgement on October 19 last, where are the injuries board were not wrong to deny any payment of costs in these particular cases.

The Injuries Board must be pleased with his decision as they place it on the front page of their website.

The real test in the long term will be how many claims are settled in the Injuries Board system and how many simply go through to the courts themselves.

All Day in Letterkenny today with Judge John o Hagan doing his best with a large list. Cases include sentencing of accused for death of Guard at checkpoint in Letterkenny,Infant cases Civil Motions all lumped together ,all crowded into a small courthouse renovated before the big courthouse spends of the past 10 years. Very small public area and smokers out on the street ...in the wind and wet!
Good counsel can settle your case for more money than you might get in court .And there's no one to know your business especially in Donegal.

At the end of October, we are experiencing changed times in the legal business.
The system of the purchaser solicitor giving undertakings is under review. The banks were quite happy to eliminate their own solicitor who protected their interest and put the responsibility on the buyers solicitor. This was done to save cost to the bank . The result was when the banks could not push the money are quick enough they have taken security, which can now discover is really worthless . They are trying to blame the indemnity insurers for lawyers and this leads on to skyhigh premiums between now and Christmas.

Now the giving of any undertaking is a major event.
Commercial undertakings are simply prohibited under new law society guidelines.

The Criminal lawyers are doing the same work but with the cuts in the legal aid scheme payments mean fees are reduced
Changes in legal practice will happen over the next 6 to 12 months that will change the way things are done

The Law Society has Indemnity insurance as a requirement on all practitioners. This means if ths solicitor is negligent a claim can be made if the client suffers loss/damage. Fine this worked fine until Some Solicitors gave Promises (Undertakings) that they now cannot honour. Examples include undertaking to pay proceeds of sale from sale of property when completed to the Lending Bank.

What happens if the property does'nt sell? The bank look for the money and if undertaking is'nt worded correctly i.e. payment if and when there's a sale, the lender want someone to pay.

Claims have increased a lot and now a yearly premium of E20,000 PER SOLICITOR. is being forcast as next years premium-- about double the present rate whether you had a claim or not.

This will impact on single practitioners and may well force some to cease practise.

Big news in debt collection ,previously you had to get judgement and then send it to the Sherriff who would return it saying "nothing to collect from the debtor"
From January 09 if you have a genuine claim eg stopped cheque you can apply to issue a bankruptcy summons ,serve it and let the debtor sweat for three weeks to see if you are going to actually make them bankrupt.
Even better news for pursuing company directors who walk away from their liabilities/responsibilites.The High court is allowing claims against Directors personal assets and the possibilty of jailing directors for trading when insolvent.
The Office of Corporate enforcement has 40 people and needs probably 400. Their time will be taken up with the Fitzpatricks and Flavins of the business world.The company s office is more concerned about late filing of returns and imposing fines than pursuing the promotors of the 50000 abandoned companies in Ireland today.
let me know what you feel about any of these comments ?

PIAB was set up with the intention of speeding up claims resolution. What seems to be happening is that Insurance companies are now actually trying to settle claims .....before you lodge with PIAB. Changed times ! For years you'd sent" kick off "letter to Insurance Co.No response for months. Quinn Insurance changed all this .They get on the mobile the week of the accident and offer money,
Sometimes a bit too quick they really don't care whether you're recovered or not. Experience shows they will offer up to double the value of the claim....just to keep out of the PIAB-- the system they agreed along with all Insurance Companies to set up!

The first thing I want to blog about is why it takes so long to clear cheques through banks.
We're told it takes 5 days so if we lodge clients cheque we can't draw on it until its cleared into our account.Why can some countries clear cheques electronically in the same day.Is it another case of no money being spent on the back office workings while the front office worked on lending to everybody? I understand one day alone the bank get the value for overnight interest.
Anyone have ideas on this?