Our client, a man in his late 70’s, was injured whilst walking along a walk way at a holiday home. He fell through the handrail along the walkway and onto the level below which was approximately 3 – 5 metres below.
At the time of the accident, the owners of the property were undertaking repair work to the premises. The handrail that our client fell through had previously been repaired by either a contractor working on the premises or one of the numerous owners and had not been affixed back to the wall. As such, it gave way and our client fell.
As a result of the fall, our client unfortunately suffered a severe spinal cord injury and subsequently developed significant ongoing issues requiring the use of a wheelchair and developing bedsores due to lack of movement. He required significant domestic care, treatment and special equipment and requires such care and assistance until his life expectancy.
We commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW on behalf of our client. The proceedings were exceedingly complicated as there were no less than seven (7) defendants involved in the matter with numerous cross-claims.
In order to provide the most secure outcome for our client, we engaged in a mediation with the defendants in this matter prior to the Supreme Court hearing and were able to agree to the sum of $3 million dollars. As such, the hearing proceeded on the basis that the court was only to determine who was at fault for the accident. The Supreme Court found that the builder undertaking the repairs was responsible for our client’s injuries as we were able to prove that workers under the builder’s responsibility were present on site just prior to our client’s accident when the railing had been removed.
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