A highly experienced lawyer, Matthew Tollitt operates from Thompsons’ centres in Liverpool and Manchester but travels widely throughout the north-west region and elsewhere.
Matthew has been a personal injury specialist at Thompsons for 30 years, having qualified at the firm. He is heavily involved in cases where life-threatening and life-changing injuries have been sustained. Compensation figures for clients can amount to millions of pounds. His clients have often been suffering from multiple injuries, sometimes with the loss of limbs or involving serious brain trauma and injuries to the spinal column.
Matthew says that Thompsons has exactly the right approach in only acting for those who have sustained injury.
Matthew’s overriding aim is to enable clients to live as normal a life as possible. He goes out of his way to support clients at a time when they and their families are inevitably undergoing huge amounts of stress.
Matthew tries to make himself available to clients wherever they are, believing it is important to explain the law in clear language so that clients can make informed choices.
Although most of his cases involve extremely serious injuries, leading to compensation in hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds, Matthew always makes the best possible case for the client whatever the amount of compensation involved.
In his spare time Matthew is a keen runner who ran the London Marathon in 2016 and again in 2017 to raise funds for the Spinal Injuries Association.
MATTHEW'S CASE EXPERIENCE
A £4.5 million lump sum settlement was agreed after a hospital admitted liability for catastrophic brain injuries sustained at birth by a boy who was ten years old when the claim was made.
In addition the claimant was awarded annual payments for care starting at £70,000 a year, rising incrementally to £170,000 a year at adulthood. An index linked yearly sum of £21,315 is to be paid throughout the claimant’s lifetime for other regular costs. The settlement was negotiated by Matthew and later approved by the court.
Following the injuries sustained at birth, the boy developed epilepsy and cerebral palsy together with significant learning and behavioural problems. It is accepted that he will never be able to live independently, manage his affairs or be in employment.
Matthew negotiated an £800,000 increase in compensation for a 62-year-old HGV driver who suffered life-changing head injuries. The driver was awarded £3,350,000 compared with the £2,550,000 he was originally offered.
The client had sustained an extremely serious brain injury when a forklift driver dislodged a metal bar as he unloaded a trailer. Matthew’s client underwent an emergency operation to relieve pressure on the brain and following prolonged treatment the client was able to leave a nursing home and move with his wife into a bungalow bought with an interim payment secured by Matthew. The client is helped by a case manager and a support package negotiated to assist in his recovery.
Matthew represented a man in his 20s who suffered catastrophic head injuries when he was hit by a car. The young man sustained permanent brain damage which meant he needed 24-hour care for the rest of his life. Early on in the legal process, Matthew secured a guarantee from the insurers that they would meet the claim in full. Matthew also secured an early commitment for funding for suitable temporary housing for the victim of the crash and his family. This meant the young man could leave hospital and be looked after by professional carers at home with a specially devised programme of rehabilitation.
Ultimately the settlement included a lump sum of £2.1 million to cover the client’s existing losses (such as the cost of care, transport and equipment); £675,000 to buy and customise accommodation for himself and his young family; and index-linked payments of £172,000 a year for the rest of his life.
Settlement was achieved for a client who sustained extremely serious injuries in a head-on crash with another vehicle in icy conditions. The claimant’s car apparently hit an icy patch and veered out of control and hit another vehicle head-on.
The client sustained severe multiple injuries and was seriously disabled. Eventually he partially recovered because of his own determination and the expertise and diligence of National Health Service doctors.
The prospects of success in the case initially looked poor. The other motorist could not be blamed for the collision and it was assumed the icy conditions caused the crash. Matthew claimed against the highway authority for failing in their duty to ensure the road was safe for motorists. The services of a leading expert were enlisted who said that a higher standard of road safety could have been achieved despite the weather conditions.
Court proceedings were begun, but the highway authority conceded and Matthew negotiated compensation totalling £250,000 – a sum considered extremely impressive under the circumstances
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Matthew is a member of a number of charities, including Headway, the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) and the Child Brain Injury Trust.
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
The client involved in the case above involving £250,000 in compensation, sent Matthew a letter: “I will be forever grateful for all the hard work you put into winning my case for me. I can now draw a line under the event and move on. The settlement has made a huge difference to me and my family...and I now feel I have much better options going forward.”
