Our client was purchasing medicine at a Chemist in Rose Bay when she tripped over a stool that had been carelessly left in the isle by the employees of the store. As a result of her fall, our client suffered serious injuries to her left leg. After the pain and swelling did not subside, she attended upon her doctor who organised x-rays and scans. This showed our client had in fact sustained a fracture and broken her leg. She quickly found that a seemingly innocent accident had caused very serious injuries and she was now faced with the cost of consultations with specialists, further x-rays and scans, physiotherapy and expensive surgery which would be financially draining to afford as she had been unable to return to work due to her injuries.
Instead of taking responsibility for their negligence, the Defendant blamed our client for contributory negligence alleging that she was not keeping a proper look out where she was going at the time of her fall. After hearing our client’s story, the experienced solicitors at Gerard Malouf and Partners immediately knew she was entitled to compensation and were eager to help. There was no doubt that the owners had been negligent and had a duty of care to avoid foreseeable risk of injury to our client as a customer on their premises.
At Gerard Malouf and Partners, we have a strong relationship with experts which we work closely with to ensure our cases are successful. We quickly engaged one of our experts to assess the CCTV footage we obtained and prepare a report we could use as evidence. Upon inspection of the footage and the Chemist’s premises, our expert’s report outlined the negligence of the owners of the Chemist detailing how they acted negligently by allowing their isles to be cluttered with tripping hazards and were in breach of Australian Standards and regulations. Our team built a strong case that showed our client and other customers were put at risk due to the unsafe nature and tripping hazard of the stool.
Due to the strong evidential case Gerard Malouf and Partners were able to build against the Defendant our client’s matter was able to be settled in an informal settlement conference without the stress and added costs of proceeding to court. The court process is also often time consuming and, as such, informal settlement conferences can assist our client’s in obtaining their compensation settlement faster. Just over one year after her injury, the lawyers at Gerard Malouf and Partners, along with the specialist barristers we work alongside, vigorously negotiated a fantastic settlement of $82,000.00 for our client.
Our client was not only extremely happy with her settlement figure, but also with her experience with Gerard Malouf and Partners who were successful in establishing a strong case and worthwhile settlement on her behalf.
If you or anybody you know has been involved in a public place accident, contact one of our expert personal injury lawyers at Gerard Malouf and Partners for a free consultation to discuss your legal entitlements.
