Despite a COVID-interrupted 2021 financial year, Attwood Marshall Lawyers’ expert Compensation Law team achieved record results across a significant number of workers’ compensation claims, motor vehicle accident claims, public liability accident claims, TPD, medical negligence, and sex abuse claims this past year, explains Attwood Marshall Lawyers Partner and QLD Law Society Accredited Specialist in Compensation Law, Jeremy Roche.
Introduction
Our Compensation Law department has been buzzing with activity across the 2021 financial year, and particularly so, during the pre-June 30 “settlement conference season”.
Our specialist compensation lawyers have been run off their feet resolving an extraordinary number of compensation claims. In May 2021 alone, Attwood Marshall Lawyers acted for injured claimants in over 40 settlement conferences and mediations in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The results have been exceptional with remarkable outcomes for our clients. Most pleasingly, we have witnessed many clients and their families achieve well-deserved compensation, certainty, and closure with respect to their accidents and injuries. Many clients have advised that having their matter concluded has been a huge turning point in their lives and receiving compensation has changed their life, and that of their loved ones, for the better, allowing them to get the treatment they deserve and the financial security they need.
Despite the expected industry-wide downturn in the number of compensation claims (and the delays to existing claims) due to COVID-19, Attwood Marshall Lawyers continues to buck the trend. We have taken the opportunity during this time to grow our team and have put on new lawyers and paralegals to meet the increasing demands of incoming compensation claims and new clients. We have expanded our specialist services even further to ensure we are able to help clients with every type of compensation claim. We utilise cutting edge technology and systems to ensure we continually meet and exceed expectations. These systems, and the strategic placing of our staff to our offices in different states, have also allowed us to effectively provide our legal services to clients and communicate with them in a COVID world. We are pleased to report that our compensation lawyers have achieved exceptional results in an unexpectedly high number of settlement conferences and mediations in the 2021 financial year.
Now that June 30 has officially passed, we turn our attention towards achieving even greater outcomes for our clients in the new financial year!
Helping people and changing their lives for the better
We take a look at some of the notable results from the 2021 financial year:
- Workplace Injury Claim because of someone else’s negligence: A client was injured at work due to someone else’s negligence and was unable to work in the foreseeable future. WorkCover unfairly rejected our client’s access to workers’ compensation benefits, let alone his entitlement to a common law negligence claim. With nowhere else to turn, our client was forced to live on the street. Against the odds, we helped our client appeal WorkCover’s decision and gain access to back-payment of some $45,000 of unpaid benefits. We then helped our client obtain an unlikely common law compensation payout of over $250,000. Our client is now able to afford housing and to bring his family to Australia whom he has not seen in several years.
- Catastrophic Motor Vehicle Accident Claim: Another client suffered catastrophic injuries in a motor vehicle accident caused by a negligent driver as he was driving home to his family. His injuries included broken shoulders, broken wrists, fractured lumbar spine, fractured neck, dislocated knee, broken ankle, broken femur, fractured eye socket, a traumatic head injury, and a severe psychiatric condition. Our client underwent 15 surgeries to date and will require more in the future. Through no fault of his own, he suffered considerable physical, psychiatric, and cognitive injuries that will affect him and his loved ones for the rest of their lives. We were able to assist our client and his family to obtain comprehensive treatment, rehabilitation, and resources over the course of his claim, and thereafter a compensation award in the millions of dollars.
- A Tricky Workers’ Compensation Claim: One of our clients had been told by three other personal injury law firms that they would not act for her because her workers’ compensation claim was unwinnable. One firm specifically informed her that her claim had “no chance of success”. Our client had suffered a severe neck injury and could not work but it appeared that a technical issue in the law prevented her claim from succeeding. Nonetheless, we recognised a deserving claimant, assumed the risk, and worked doggedly to find a way to succeed with her unlikely claim. The claim was protracted as the parties fought over many issues, but our client was elated to ultimately secure a settlement of over $600,000.
- Resolution of several difficult TPD claims: We resolved several cases with large lump sum TPD (total and permanent disability) payments attached to their superannuation policies to clients who were unable to work due to illness or injury, including two matters where the clients suffered a serious psychological condition (one from a work incident and another from a hospital related error). They resulted in payments of $400,000 and $440,000 respectively as per the policy cover amounts. There was also a serious work-related injury matter where the client successfully claimed on a $1M policy, which was in addition to his QLD WorkCover claim.
Attwood Marshall Lawyers – Experts in Compensation Claims
Attwood Marshall Lawyers act for injured people in David-v-Goliath type claims against defendants (and their insurance companies) in all areas of personal injury law in Melbourne, including:
- Work accidents, workers’ compensation or WorkCover claims;
- Motor vehicle accidents, including truck, car, motorcycle or cycling accidents;
- Public liability accidents;
- Abuse claims (e.g. historical sexual abuse, institutional abuse);
- TPD claims and superannuation insurance claims;
- Industrial injuries or fatalities;
- Medical negligence claims;
- Boating/aviation accidents.
Unlike most law firms, Attwood Marshall Lawyers compensation lawyers receive much of our incoming work via “word of mouth” – from our satisfied clients referring other injured claimants to us for assistance. Similarly, Attwood Marshall Lawyers is fortunate to receive many referrals from other businesses and professionals who have first-hand knowledge of our exceptional client service, meticulous work ethic, and reputation for continually achieving exemplary results, even in the most difficult of cases.
Established in 1946, Attwood Marshall Lawyers has stood the test of time and has been at the forefront of the personal injury industry for decades. We are fortunate that our reputation often precedes us and are proud to offer specialist services in this area of law.
Above all else, our compensation law team is renowned for truly living the firm’s intent; “to help people and change their lives for the better”. In addition to providing high-level expertise, knowledge and resources, our lawyers are empathetic, compassionate, and genuinely care about our clients. We provide a holistic approach in helping our compensation clients achieve the best outcomes for their lives, not just for their claim.
We have specialist legal departments in almost every field of law – which is why Attwood Marshall Lawyers usually holds onto clients for life. Unlike most personal injury firms (that can only do your personal injury claim and then need to send you elsewhere for all other legal matters), we provide our clients with ready access to other expert legal departments, including Wills & Estates, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Family Law, Business & Commercial Law, Property and Conveyancing services, Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Aged Care, and more.
We work hard to secure meaningful, life-long relationships with our clients. We are community minded, conscientious, and ever mindful of our genuine core purpose – to help you.
Our offices are located in Brisbane, Robina Town Centre (Gold Coast), Coolangatta (Southern Gold Coast), Kingscliff (Northern NSW), Sydney and Melbourne. Our compensation lawyers regularly travel to meet with clients in need of our assistance, and can even arrange to meet with you at hospital or at your home if your injuries or illness prevents you from visiting one of our office locations. We offer free, no obligation initial consultations by telephone or in person so that you can find out where you stand from the start.
If you have suffered an injury or illness and want to find out your right to compensation, contact our friendly team any time on 1800 621 071.
Read our latest Compensation Law articles:
Your super is changing: What this year’s Federal Budget means for your superannuation and retirement
Road safety a priority as Federal Budget injects a further $1 Billion to road safety projects
Victim of Childhood Sexual or Physical Abuse? How to Obtain Justice, Acknowledgement and Compensation
Injured at work? Easy steps to claim WorkCover compensation
Motor Vehicle Accidents – compensation claims and understanding your rights as a road user
Workplace sexual harassment and assault – what can you do?
