John Meredith-Hardy

Personal Injury

John has significant experience acting for claimants and defendants across the full range of personal injury claims.

The subject matter of claims includes accidents at work including factories, oilrigs, workshops, shops & offices; Occupational disease including asbestos related conditions; Road traffic accidents involving heavy goods vehicles, cars and motorbikes; Employment, holiday and road traffic accidents abroad whilst on-land and on-ship; Road traffic accidents in England where there is a foreign element.

Instructions include injuries resulting in Brain injury, Cerebral palsy and Spinal injuries of the utmost severity; Chronic pain, Amputation and Complex injuries resulting in lifetime care & therapy, adaptive housing and ancillary services. John undertakes CICA claims of the utmost severity, concerning nervous shock and Fatal accidents.

Examples of cases undertaken:

Andrews v KCS Herr Voss (defendant) MII Engineering Ltd (third party) – instructed by the third party on defence of defendant’s additional claim in a serious factory accident; claim discontinued by the defendant following service of the third party’s defence

Smith v Mason – acting for a claimant in a serious personal injury accident in Gibraltar resulting in working-life inability to pursue pre-accident occupation; claim settled at a JSM

Edmunds v W.L. Vallance Ltd – acting for a defendant in a High Court trial on liability and quantum with regard to an accident at work allegedly resulting in brain injury; Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 s.69 of relevance; claim dismissed

D v Gibraltar Health Authority – acting in a claim by a medical professional for work related illness in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar and in the Court of Appeal of Gibraltar; claim settled at a JSM

L v Surbiton Town Sports Club Limited T/A Surbiton Town Raceway – acting in a claim against a company operating a karting track in circumstances where the claimant sustained poly-trauma in consequence of an accident on the track and a loss of a chance to have pursued a career as a management consultant

AAA represented by her litigation friend BBB v MIB & another – approval of a settlement of £4 million plus interim payments of £357,725 for a brain injury sustained in an RTA when age 2 & age 21 on date of settlement

XP v (1) Compensa Towarzystwo SA (2) Bejger – High Court trial relating to, inter alia, apportionment of damages following consecutive road traffic accidents, one in Poland followed two years mater by an accident in the UK

Jesmin v WH Smith Retail Holdings Ltd – County Court trial – chronic pain claim for substantial damages dismissed after a trial and damages awarded for minor soft tissue injury

Ibidapo-Obe v Selimi – brain injury following a collision with a car whilst a pedestrian

McMaster v Pringle – complex & severe brain injury that included lifetime claims for damages across the spectrum of recoverable loss

Middlemiss v Ministry of Defence – Junior soldier injured whilst paint balling & sustaining serious eye injuries

Woods v Fiserv Ltd – repetitive strain injury claim relating to work place injuries in an office environment

Rutley-Frayne v Meller – Fatal Accident and personal injury of the utmost severity including loss of a leg and arm

Weale v Todd – complex pain case including substantial business loss & expert accountancy evidence

Ward v First Central Insurance Ltd – poly-trauma and brain injury sustained in an extremely serious road traffic accident

D v CICA – CICA hearing – claim for a victim of child abuse resulting in brain injury and spastic quadriplegia

McGonigle & another v Fineturrret Ltd v Morgan Est PLC v Farrans Construction Ltd v Format Urzadzenia I Montaze Przemyslowe SP Z.O.O. – multi-party liability dispute following an accident on a major infrastructure project

Clinical Negligence

John is instructed in claims against medical professionals including consultants, doctors, GPs and nurses for clinical negligence and acts for both claimants and defendants.

Examples of cases undertaken:

Bardsley v Dovehaven Nursing Home – successful defence of a claim for negligent care by a nursing home

Coleman v S – shoulder surgeon negligently performed four-part shoulder arthroplasty

Bloomfield v Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust – negligently performed herniogram resulting in a perforated bowel & failure to obtain informed consent

Muminolglu v Sharma – claim against a GP for wrongful prescribing of medication

Nicols v Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust – negligent treatment with regard to operative treatment to remove a needle from a patient and negligence causing infection

Leybourne v King’s College Hospital NHS Trust – negligent diagnosis of cancer causing premature death

Civil Fraud

John has experience of pleading and making submissions in cases concerning fundamental dishonesty in the context of s.57 and QOCS. Fraudulent misrepresentation, deceit and Fairclough v Summers strike out have been a feature of John’s practice for many years, and remain so in non-PI cases where fundamental dishonesty does not apply. John has considerable experience of fraud relating to insurance claims, coverage disputes and the provision of financial services.

Costs

Costs issues form a regular aspect of John’s day-to-day practice and include Costs budgeting, Qualified one way costs shifting (QOCS); Fundamental Dishonesty & s.57; Enforceability of Conditional Fee Agreements; Interim payments of costs; Orders for costs and Detailed Assessment of Costs.