back to Client Storiesnext story

TMR Fitzsimons helped us establish early on who was legally responsible for my son’s accident at school. He received €60,000 compensation.

FV’s son suffered nasty fractures and breaks to his legs and he had to undergo surgery to insert screws into his broken bones, following a PE class gone wrong at school.

“I was worried that the exercise my son was doing was unsafe. As a mother, I wanted to do my best for my son. But money is tight and from news stories, I had heard that compensation claims against schools can be difficult to win.”

We reassured FV that the incident needed to be investigated. We explained about the claims process in Ireland and the role of the Injuries Board, which does not investigate liability for an accident. We explained why it would be better to deal with responsibility for the accident immediately, rather than later. A short time later we attended a joint inspection at the school with an expert engineer and with the school’s advisors. The engineers examined the hall and recreated the exercise.

“Michael also interviewed a number of pupils who witnessed the accident in our house and I know he made them feel very comfortable to tell him what they witnessed.”

Shortly after liability was conceded by the school and the Injuries Board assessed compensation.

“The way Michael ran this claim was very cost effective and has ensured that my son has got compensation for his injuries. Michael was easy to talk to and he persuaded my son to talk freely to the doctors that had to see him. Not easy with a teenager, so this was important! I am also pleased that the school had the opportunity to realise that this PE exercise was not suitable at all.”

Michael Fitzsimons says: “There was little point in moving forward with the claim without dealing with the issue of liability for the accident. That’s why, although it would not normally be necessary, we conducted the joint inspection. It was soon clear during the inspection that the school and the teacher were in the wrong and it simplified the compensation process.”

Click on a link below to find out more about our personal law services.