LEAD ARTICLE –  SEPTEMBER 2020

Reality Bites

I enjoy a life outside medicolegal reporting. It is a blend of agribusiness and hospitality, and I regularly engage with members of the public. Many are quite discerning.

I recently entertained a couple whose daughter was an elite sportswoman. She had sustained a serious hip injury and had undergone corrective orthopaedic surgery. She made a civil claim.
I had been engaged by the defence to perform an objective analysis of her circumstance, comment upon causation and to measure any residual impairment. I gathered from the couple that my report was not totally to their liking. Given my pursuit for bipartisanship and their obvious conflict of interest, this difference is hardly surprising.

As is so common, their daughter’s solicitor sought an opinion from an expert of their own choice. It became apparent that the second expert’s opinion was significantly harsher than mine and did nothing but diminish the quantum of her eventual claim. Whilst the real world can sometimes be both unpredictable and unkind, reality is what it is.

Everybody can learn a lesson.