Medical negligence resulting in cerebral palsy can have a considerable impact on the entire family. Children with cerebral palsy need a lot of support, meaning parents may be unable to work and this can lead to financial difficulty.
Our cerebral palsy solicitors understand the additional needs and support a child with cerebral palsy requires. We can assist you in claiming the compensation you need to adequately care for your family and give your child the best life possible.
For any parent, having a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy can be devastating. But when the injury was avoidable, it can be even more painful for a family to comprehend and to reach a point where they are able to move forward.
If you suspect your child has suffered cerebral palsy or cognitive or behavioural problems as a direct result of medical negligence, you should seek help from an appropriately skilled, specialist and committed lawyer as soon as possible. They can investigate the circumstances of the care given and, in the event of negligence, help to obtain financial security for your child for life.
Making a cerebral palsy compensation claim can financially support your family and provide your child with the most fulfilling life possible. It can additionally ensure your child gets the necessary care, equipment, education and therapies they need now and throughout their future.
Our specialist team will be there to advise you about what can be achieved at each stage of this complex process. As compassionate and empathetic people, we will be with you every step of the way to provide you with the personal support you and your family will require to secure your child’s future.
Our cerebral palsy claims solicitors can provide you with:
- A free initial consultation on your claim
- No win no fee or Legal Aid funding
- A negotiation-led approach that means most claims are settled out of court
- Independently accredited expertise you can trust
- A very high track record of successful claims
- A sensitive, personal service to support you during this difficult time
- A free rehabilitation service to aid your child’s development.
In this video, the mother of a young man with cerebral palsy tells her story and explains how Ashtons Legal has helped her family.
Contact our Cerebral Palsy Claims Solicitors
To make a cerebral palsy claim, please contact our experienced cerebral palsy solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case and plan the potential next steps.
You can get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.
Ashtons Legal Medical Negligence Team
At Ashtons Legal, the team have years of experience supporting all types of clients through cerebral palsy compensation claims. With excellent success rates and skilled solicitors, you can be confident in the team’s ability to provide an outstanding service.
Choosing to instruct the Ashtons Legal medical negligence team guarantees you will be working with devoted solicitors who care about providing the highest quality advice and guidance throughout your claim.
Many senior members of our medical negligence team are acknowledged by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) as either Senior Fellows or Senior Litigators, in addition to being on the Law Society Clinical Negligence panel.
The Head of Medical Negligence, Sharon Allison, is a member of the Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) Clinical Negligence Panel.
How To Make a Cerebral Palsy Claim
Our cerebral palsy solicitors can guide you through the entire claims process. We recognise how stressful these types of matters are and strive to provide close personal comfort throughout, helping to keep stress to a minimum.
Our solicitors offer a service that includes:
- Assessing your cerebral palsy claim and arranging funding via a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement or Legal Aid, if appropriate
- Building your cerebral palsy medical negligence case, including access to experienced medical experts to support your claim
- Drafting and submitting a Letter of Claim to the defendant
- Mediation processes to reach a settlement
- Representing you in Court if necessary
- Access to our free rehabilitation service for ongoing health support.
To make a cerebral palsy claim, get in touch with our solicitors at Ashtons Legal. Below you can find more information about the specific processes involved.
How is Compensation Calculated?
Cerebral palsy compensation packages differ from case to case depending on the individual’s lifetime needs. They are often settled for several million pounds to reflect the need for equipment, care and support the child may need throughout their lives as a result of their disability.
Our lawyers are highly experienced in valuing birth brain injury cases and will give you detailed explanations of the processes and calculations of damages throughout the claim.
How Do You Make a Cerebral Palsy Claim?
Assessing your cerebral palsy claim
When you approach the Ashtons Legal team for your cerebral palsy claim, our solicitors will take the time to carefully assess the details of your case.
We recognise how emotional talking about medical negligence can be and will approach the matter with the utmost sensitivity. At this stage, you will be invited to share the situation and the impact it has had on your child and family.
This consultation allows our solicitors to assess the merits of any potential claim. We will explain the funding options available, including our ‘no win, no fee’ agreement and whether your claim is eligible for legal aid funding.
Building your cerebral palsy claim case
To help build your case to present to the defendant and the court, where applicable, our lawyers will gather details and evidence to support your claim. This includes acquiring witnesses’ statements and medical records as well as liaising with medical professionals, such as midwives, obstetricians and paediatric neurologists.
Doing this enables us to create a claim that entirely reflects your child’s experience and needs, providing a clear understanding of the situation, the circumstances and the impact and disruption caused.
Submitting the Letter of Claim
If the evidence obtained supports a medical negligence claim, our solicitors will prepare the claim, initially starting with a Letter of Claim to send to the defendant.
The Letter of Claim sets out a number of important aspects concerning the claim, including what negligence is alleged to have occurred and how this impacted your child’s cerebral palsy.
Once the claim is sent and received, the defendant has four months to respond, either accepting liability or denying that wrongdoing occurred.
If the defendant accepts liability, our solicitors will value the claim based on your circumstances and aim to agree to a settlement that best suits you. Additionally, we can make arrangements for interim damages which can assist with the immediate needs of your child.
Where the defendant denies wrongdoing, we will take the time to review this carefully. If we believe your claim has a reasonable chance of success, we can proceed forward with court litigation while still aiming to resolve the claim with an early settlement.
Mediation processes
Where the defendant has admitted to medical negligence that caused cerebral palsy, our solicitors can assist with negotiating a settlement, either through mediation or arbitration.
We have assisted clients in all types of cerebral palsy negligence claims, including those more challenging and have helped many clients achieve high levels of compensation.
Court processes
If your cerebral palsy claim cannot be settled through mediation, our solicitors can represent you during the trial.
Our solicitors have worked with various court personnel, including skilled and knowledgeable barristers. We have years of collective expertise assisting clients in court proceedings, including preparation and representation. We are proud to be recognised for having a strong track record of success.
Free rehabilitation service
Cerebral palsy negligence can be an emotionally and mentally challenging injury for your child and you. Unfortunately, a cerebral palsy birth injury can have an impact on the child’s entire life. We recognise that they are likely to require specialist health care and support throughout their life. For this reason, during the claims process, our solicitors work alongside our rehabilitation team to provide a free-of-charge rehab service.
Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claims Fees
‘No win no fee’ cerebral palsy claims
At Ashtons Legal, we can operate our cerebral palsy claims process on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. What this means is you will only need to pay legal fees if your compensation claim is successful. In most cases where negligence is uncovered, the defendant will be liable for paying your legal costs, leaving you with nothing to pay.
In the unfortunate instance that your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t be subject to any legal fees for our assistance.
Legal Aid for cerebral palsy claims
In cases which involve children, our solicitors may be able to offer our services through Legal Aid, which is a type of public funding that can cover legal costs for children that have suffered brain injuries due to medical negligence. Should your case be eligible, our solicitors can offer Legal Aid as a funding option.
Before we start your claim, we will make certain you are entirely aware of how the fees work. We will never pursue cases before ensuring you are completely comfortable.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cerebral Palsy Claims
What is cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect an individual’s brain (cerebral) and the way they are able to use their muscles (palsy).
In some cases, there is no link between the disorder and the negligence of a medical practitioner. However, sometimes clinical errors are made by medical professionals, which subsequently can result in cerebral palsy in a newborn baby.
Can you claim for cerebral palsy?
If your child has suffered a cerebral palsy birth injury as a result of negligent medical care, which could have been avoided with appropriate care, you could be eligible to claim for cerebral palsy.
Is cerebral palsy medical negligence?
Medical mistakes are often the prime cause of cerebral palsy, where the duty of care medical professionals have for their patients has been breached.
What medical mistakes cause cerebral palsy?
There are many medical mistakes that occur, which can sadly lead to the cause of cerebral palsy.
Examples of where healthcare professionals could cause medical negligence amounting to cerebral palsy include but are not limited to:
- Inadequate prenatal care
- No interventions during labour and delivery
- Failure to treat an infection
- Late diagnosis and treatment of preterm labour
- Failure to respond quickly to bleeding
- Umbilical cord compression resulting in the baby’s oxygen supply being cut off
- Failure to deliver the baby by caesarean section
- Slow delivery
- Failure to monitor the baby’s heartbeat
- Incorrect use of instruments during delivery – e.g. forceps.
Is cerebral palsy always a birth injury?
No, cerebral palsy is not always a birth injury.
While it can be caused due to a birth injury, most causes of cerebral palsy occur in the antenatal pregnancy stage (prior to birth) as well as after the birth of the baby.
Examples of common situations where cerebral palsy occurs after birth include:
- Meningitis
- Kernicterus
- Head injury
- Brain haemorrhage or stroke.
What is the time limit for making a cerebral palsy/birth brain injury claim?
Generally, the time limits to make a cerebral palsy claim are:
- If you are making a claim on behalf of your child, you can begin the claim process any time before their 18th birthday
- If your child is over 18, the time limit to begin the claim will depend on their level of mental capacity
- If you have cerebral palsy, are over 18 and have the mental capacity to make a claim yourself, then you have until your 21st birthday to begin the claim process
- There is no time limit to begin a claim if the person with cerebral palsy does not have the mental capacity to make a claim themselves.
Why Choose Ashtons Legal?
Our team at Ashtons Legal are devoted to creating positive professional relationships with our clients. We are a client centred firm, with our clients’ best interests at the heart of what we do. When you work with the team, you can be confident of receiving expert support from approachable and empathetic solicitors who care.
The team always make sure our clients are completely comfortable throughout the process. This includes ensuring our advice is explained in plain clear English with no confusing legal jargon.
We take pride in the reputation we hold with our clients and the local community. Our expertise has been recognised by legal directories the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for our outstanding medical negligence services, including for cerebral palsy negligence claims. We have also received accreditations including Lexcel, AvMa, Brain Injury Group, APIL and much more.
Contact our Cerebral Palsy Claims Solicitors
To make a cerebral palsy claim, please contact our experienced cerebral palsy solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case and plan the potential next steps.
You can get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.