Redlich's Work Injury Lawyers today won a serious injury application for a client in the County Court.

Over 10 years ago, our client injured his neck while working as an electrician. His head became jammed in a false ceiling cavity when the ladder he was standing on started toppling over. As a result, he suffered injury to his neck and spine.

Shortly before the hearing, the Victorian WorkCover Authority agreed that our client had suffered a serious injury but argued that our client was aware of the seriousness of his injury shortly after he suffered his injury. They argued that due to the time limit placed on serious injury applications, our client was out of time to lodge his application.

We successfully argued that our client was not aware of the serious consequences of his injury until much later, after the cut off date for his application. The judge accepted our argument that the injury suffered initially following the accident was only a soft tissue sprain injury, which was treated and managed with massage, occasional physiotherapy and very little medication. It was only much more recently when the client was doing more work on the tools and suffered an aggravation of his condition, did he realise the serious nature of his injury. The injury now has serious consequences on his domestic, social and working life, which was not the case previously.

The case involved complex legal arguments about our client's knowledge of his injuries. The hearing took place over 3 days. Our client was cross-examined for two of these days. There were no other witnesses called by either party.

Our client is thrilled with this outcome. We will now enter in to settlement negotiations with the Defendant solicitors and hope to settle his damages claim in the coming months.