Litigating Psychiatric Injury Claims - Difficulties & Practical Tips Explored

Introduction

Psychiatric injury claims are often controversial and hard fought.

Clients present challenges that have to be carefully handled plus the law is complicated, with control mechanisms designed as ‘floodgates’ to prevent some injured people from claiming, increasing the risk to the lawyer working under a CFA.

This virtual classroom seminar is aimed at experienced practitioners and aims to assist with the difficulties you will encounter in relation to psychiatric injury claims, offering practical tips to deal with these cases and ensure you achieve the best results for your clients.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Why are psychiatric injury claims so controversial?
• What is a ‘recognised psychiatric injury’ as opposed to grief/distress
• Exacerbation of existing conditions and pre-existing vulnerability
• Overlap with structural brain damage and physical injury (eg whiplash)
• Apportionment, acceleration, treatments and mitigation
• General damages, treatment costs, care and loss of earnings
• ‘Shock’ cases - primary victims, including direct participants and rescuers
• Claims associated with a physical injury and ‘pure’ psychiatric injury claims
• ‘Non-shock cases’ (e.g. stress at work) - primary victims where additional controls apply
• Secondary victims in disasters and in individual claims (including clinical negligence) - the controls and what will the UKSC do in Paul v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust?
• Overlap with discrimination and harassment remedies
• Mental Capacity - limitation, litigation capacity, property and affairs and welfare
• Handling the client and building a team - picking the right experts and counsel
• Attitudes of defendants - fraud, fundamental dishonesty, malingering and exaggeration

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.