THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF LEGAL EXECUTIVES UNIT 9 PREPARATIONS FOR PERSONAL INJURY TRIALS * SUPPORTING MATERIALS

Transcription

1 16 January 2015 Level 4 PREPARATIONS FOR PERSONAL INJURY TRIALS Subject Code L4-9 THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF LEGAL EXECUTIVES UNIT 9 PREPARATIONS FOR PERSONAL INJURY TRIALS * SUPPORTING MATERIALS Information for Candidates on Using the Supporting Materials This document contains the supporting materials for your examination. You have 30 minutes reading time to read the supporting materials and question paper. It is strongly recommended that you use the reading time to read the supporting materials and question paper fully. However, you may make notes on the supporting materials, question paper or in your answer booklet during this time, if you wish. Do not turn over this page until instructed by the Invigilator. * This unit is a component of the following CILEx qualifications: LEVEL 4 DIPLOMA IN PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION and LEVEL 4 EXTENDED DIPLOMA IN PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION Page 1 of 8

2 BLANK PAGE Page 2 of 8

3 INSTRUCTIONS You are working in the Personal Injury Team of Kempstons LLP, solicitors, of Trafalgar House, The Square, Bedford, MK40 5NG, DX 7452 Bedford. Your telephone number is and file reference is PK/2 followed by the name of the client. Your County Court hearing centre and District Registry is Bedford. Your team leader Chris Kidd has passed you three files relating to the following clients: Amy Dobson (Documents 1 and 2) Yasser Youssof (Document 3) Clara McDonald (Document 4) Document 1 Document 2 Document 3 Document 4 Draft statement of Mrs Amy Dobson Extract of letter from Defendant s solicitors Attendance Note prepared by Chris Kidd Medical Report by Ms Flora Robertson Page 3 of 8 Turn over

4 DOCUMENT 1 DRAFT STATEMENT OF MRS AMY DOBSON I, Mrs Amy Frances Dobson of 7, Hollyhock Villas, Kempston, Bedfordshire, MK41 6AF, will say as follows: 1. I make this statement in support of my claim for stress against MK Finance Ltd of Buckinghamshire Tower, High Street, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK1 5RT. 2. I started work with them on 3 October I was taken on as Personal Assistant to Frank Muttley who has been the Managing Director throughout my time there. MK Finance Ltd are financial advisors who have branches throughout Buckinghamshire and the Home Counties. 3. At first things went well, but in about February 2013, they had to make a number of people redundant and this meant my own workload increased a lot. It seemed I had more to do and had to take on more responsibility. I was working long hours. 4. This took a bit of time to build up and the effect on me was gradual, but I first mentioned to Mr Muttley that it was beginning to affect me in July His attitude was You ll be fine; get on with it. We re all in it together. Nothing changed. 5. Things got worse over the Summer and Autumn and by December 2013 things were so bad I had to go and see my doctor who gave me a sick note because of my stress. I sent the note to Mr Muttley. 6. I returned to work in January 2014 and had a meeting with Mr Muttley, but nothing changed. I carried on until things got so bad in April 2014 that I had to go and see my doctor again who said I was suffering from stress. I have not been back to work since. 7. In May 2014, Mr Muttley asked me to come in to another meeting. The meeting took place on 23 May 2014 in his office and also present was Tracey Barnes, who works for a company that I know Mr Muttley gets advice from on personnel issues. I had seen her around the office before on quite a few occasions. Mr Muttley did not say he was prepared to change anything but that I was welcome back anytime. 8. I feel I am now ready to return to work. 9. I calculate that I would have earned 22,000 net while I was away. Apart from my medication, which cost 32, I have not had any expenses. Signed: Amy F Dobson Page 4 of 8

5 DOCUMENT 2 EXTRACT FROM LETTER TO KEMPSTONS LLP FROM MK FINANCE LTD S SOLICITORS (NB The statement is not attached with the supporting materials.) Dear Sirs Re: Dobson v MK Finance Ltd We refer to our letter of 12 December We enclose a statement prepared by Tracey Barnes of Human Solutions. We propose that she should be used as a joint expert in this case. Please confirm that you agree. Yours faithfully pp. Firth, Simpson and Co. Page 5 of 8 Turn over

6 Client: Yasser Youssof Matter: Accident at work Date: 9 January 2015 Fee Earner: Chris Kidd Time Taken: 1 hour DOCUMENT 3 ATTENDANCE NOTE RE YASSER YOUSSOF Chris Kidd attending client in connection with an accident at work which occurred on 15 October Yasser is employed as a forklift truck driver by East Midlands Logistics Ltd of Unit 7, Bucks Industrial Park, Bedford. They operate a warehouse which stores and delivers goods for companies selling online. His job is to load the goods onto lorries. He has been there for four years and done the same thing since he joined. On the day of the accident, his first job was to load a number of tablets and other computer equipment onto a large articulated lorry. He started work at 8 am and at first he noticed nothing unusual. This task took about half an hour. His next task was to load some heavier photographic equipment onto the same lorry. After doing this for about 15 minutes, he noticed the forklift truck started to behave strangely. As he was actually loading the equipment onto the lorry, he started to raise the forks when the forklift truck just toppled over. He fell out of the cabin and some of the equipment fell on top of him. He went to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured shoulder, cuts and bruises to his face. He is expected to be off work for up to six months. He cannot explain how the accident happened. He has heard various rumours that there was a fault in the lifting mechanism or that the truck had been interfered with in some way. He knows that East Midlands Logistics Ltd s Safety Officer prepared a report on the accident following an inspection of the forklift truck and made an entry in the accident book. Several other workmen were around at the time of the accident. Sam Morris spoke to him while he was waiting for the ambulance and said he had seen everything. Yasser thinks that East Midlands Logistics Ltd had bought the truck from a German Company about 6-8 weeks before the accident. It was very similar to the one he had been using before and he felt confident operating it. He had received training when he joined East Midlands Logistics Ltd but nothing since. We discussed funding options with him and advised what steps we will now take. He signed the necessary authorities to enable us to get his medical records. We will draft a statement for him to sign. Page 6 of 8

7 DOCUMENT 4 EXTRACT FROM MEDICAL REPORT OF FLORA ROBERTSON I am a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at St Mary s Hospital, Bedford. I have been asked to prepare this report by Kempstons LLP, solicitors, of Trafalgar House, The Square, Bedford, MK40 5NG. I examined Clara McDonald on 9 January She told me she had been involved in a road traffic accident on 30 May 2014 when she was riding her bicycle to work. She was wearing a helmet and highvisibility jacket. As she approached the junction of The Avenue and High Street, a car swept into her path, apparently without stopping at the junction, and a collision occurred. She was taken to St Luke s Hospital, Milton Keynes, where, on X ray, she was found to have fractured her left fibula and tibia, both of which required pinning. On examination, she was found to have multiple cuts and bruises, particularly to the face and left arm. The fractures were re-set and her left leg was put in plaster. The cuts to her face required 10 stitches. She remained in plaster for a month but the tibia was not setting particularly well so she was put into an ankle plaster, which was removed after a further month. She now complains of stiffness in the left ankle which, she says, is preventing her from playing tennis and hiking, both of which she enjoys a lot. The cuts and bruising appear to have resolved. The scars across her cheek remain; as well as the scars across her forehead but these could be concealed by her hair. I would expect these scars to heal in due course. On examination, I found some stiffness to the left ankle. Her gait when she walked into my consulting room did not appear particularly unusual although it was more so when she left. I would expect any difficulty with the ankle to resolve within the next few months. She tells me that she has not returned to her work as a Sports Teacher since the accident. I see no reason why she could not do so in April. Part of the problem may be embarrassment over the scarring. End of Supporting Materials 2015 The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives Page 7 of 8

8 BLANK PAGE Page 8 of 8