Cliff was a pedestrian who was struck by a car and injured while crossing the road in 2008. He suffered a serious knee injury and has not been able to return to his employment as a specialised bricklayer or find other suitable work. Cliff was offered an early settlement of $225,000.00, and we were able to secure him after further work on his behalf an agreed lump sum payment of $450,000.00. Cliff wrote to us expressing his appreciation for our work: Dear Henry & Staff, I want to thank all of you for hard work and excellent service in reaching settlement for my common law claim. Each of you have played a role in reaching a settlement that will allow myself, my two young daughters and my partner to enjoy a quality of life far beyond my hope and expectations. I want to especially thank Ella and Wendy for their patience and understanding while conferring with me when I have been difficult during times of increased pain or lack of sleep. ‘Henry’, you are a professional unlike any other I have ever met or spoken with. You have a brilliant mind, an authoritative almost imposing attitude, yet you are compassionate, caring, and possess a sense of wit and humour that serves a purpose of allowing your clients to feel at ease and confident. Henry Carus & Associates have transformed a settlement offer of $225,000.00 into an agreed lump sum payment of $450,000.00 in just over 5 months! This is an outstanding achievement that you should all feel proud of. I feel blessed that you acted on my behalf, and I want to thank you all again from the bottom of my heart.

In the evening of New Years Eve 2005, Lee was driving with his wife Karen and their eight year old daughter when a car failed to give way entering a roundabout and crashed into their vehicle. Lee’s vehicle rolled onto its side and Karen died tragically at the scene of the accident. Lee suffered both physical and psychiatric injuries. A British national, Lee returned to England with his two children for family support. To this day, Lee experiences extreme emotional distress and significant bilateral back pain. As a result of his physical and psychiatric condition, he is unable to work and care for his children on his own. The TAC refused to grant Lee a Serious Injury Certificate until February 2010 – more than four years after the accident – and in March 2011 common law proceedings for damages were issued. Lee was seeking compensation for his pain and suffering, his inability to work in the past and for the remainder of his life, as well as the value of the services being provided for him by his family members. At mediation (held two weeks prior to trial), the TAC only offered Lee approximately $750,000 in compensation. Although physically and psychologically challenged by the thought of coming back to Australia to appear at a trial, Lee listened to the advice of Henry Carus & Associates and accepted that a better settlement could be achieved if he returned. In the two weeks leading up the trial, Henry Carus & Associates arranged everything required to proceed, including up to date medical examinations and video links back to England to receive the evidence of medical practitioners and family members. On the evening before the trial, the TAC finally accepted the true value of Lee’s claim, and offered him approximately $1.1 million for settlement – a difference of $350,000 in 2 weeks! According to Lee: “Nobody should have to see what I saw that night. Nobody should have to tell their children that their mother is dead. Since the accident my life has been knackered. I used to be the most outgoing person in the world and I loved my job – but the physical and psychiatric injuries I have suffered put an end to that extroverted personality, my career and my ability to care for my children. It’s difficult to get people to understand what I went through that night and what I will go through for the rest of my life because of that night. Henry Carus & Associates have understood this from day one. They helped me fight for what I deserved and, because of their hard work and dedication, I received an excellent settlement figure. The settlement money won’t bring back the life I had, but it will let me care for my family. Thank you Henry Carus.”

Jianping, an older Asian woman, was injured very badly while working in a factory. The assembly line was too high for her and her employee addressed the issue by giving her a milk crate to stand on. One day while working on the assembly line she slipped off the crate and shattered her knee, never to be able to walk normally again. Trusting Henry Carus and Associates with her claim, we worked hard on our investigation and the company eventually accepted liability. We started with an offer of $60,000 and ended settling at $288,000. Jianping wrote to us expressing her gratitude and sharing her story for others:

I am very grateful to all the assistance and professional guidance provided by Henry Carus & Associates on my way to gain WorkCover compensation, and the afterwards service as well. I would like to share my experience and feelings for the past three years in relation to my compensation.

 

I migrated to Australia in November 2004 and I started to work in a factory in 2005. Due to the poor safety conditions in the factory, I had a fall accidentally in 2006, and suffered a knee cap fracture. I was sent to hospital right away and had a surgery. You can imagine the physical pain, yet I did not know what to do with the psychological influence and the helplessness followed. As I had just migrated to Australia not long, I had no idea how to cope with such an unfortunate accident. My friends and the factory gave me the idea that I could not approach lawyers to make a lawsuit, as in Australia, lawyers were very expensive, even you won the case eventually, you would have to contribute most of your compensation amount to the solicitor fee. At the time the factory would like to solve the issue in private as well. I was confused with all the opinions yet I felt very unjustified. Later I accidentally saw an advertisement on a Chinese newspaper about a professional personal injury law firm specialised in WorkCover claims, and it said “No Win No Fee”, which gave me the courage to ring them. Very soon Henry came to visit me at my house (as it was inconvenient for me to attend their office due to my knee injury). During our conversation, he clearly explained to me the whole procedure of the claim, how to cope with all kinds of difficulties that may occur, and also their charge. I understood well the whole procedure, so I authorised Henry Carus & Associates to act for me.

 

The whole compensation process took me over three years. It was a very hard period of my life (mainly emotionally and psychologically). During the process, WorkCover advised me to attend their specialist medical exams many times, and also continually requested me to work by phone calls or letters, and sometimes they even assigned people to follow me secretly and took surveillance pictures. All of these were for the purpose to collect evidence helpful for them so that they could pay me less or even nothing. For an injured person, it would be so hard to deal with all of these without a professional lawyer’s support and guidance. I was lucky enough to have such support throughout the whole process, so that every time I met some difficulty I had the confidence to deal with it. My solicitor also arranged all kinds of specialists to examine my injury. With all the support from Henry Carus & Associates, I did not feel lonely or scared during the three year long compensation.

 

The negotiation of the settlement amount also took a very long time.They always started with a very low offer, yet after several times negotiation, my solicitor got me a very satisfactory result in the end, and also their charge was very reasonable. Therefore, I really appreciate what Henry Carus & Associates has done for me. They have fought for my best interest during the compensation. Thank you

Elizabeth came to us for assistance after she suffered injuries whilst undergoing dental treatment.  During the removal of temporary crowns and the insertion of a bridge, Elizabeth suffered a nerve injury which left her with chronic pain.  This affected every aspect of her life, including her ability to work.  We commenced proceedings for Elizabeth but were met with a dogged refusal by the dentist’s insurance company and lawyers to accept responsibility. After a long and difficult fight, we were able to settle Elizabeth’s case for a very good outcome. Elizabeth wrote to us saying:

 

I had been struggling with a chronic pain condition caused by an injury, for over a year when I first met Henry. I found him to be an honest and caring person who believed in seeking justice for people injured through no fault of their own. Henry believed I deserved compensation and was very forthcoming about my right to pursue a damages claim. He was also very clear and fair regarding the costs involved. His associate Wendy guided me through this stressful and exhausting process with patience and understanding. We eventually reached a settlement and I can’t thank Henry, Wendy and all the office staff for treating me with kindness and patience, as well as the many hours of work involved in preparing my claim.

Andrew was a qualified refrigeration maintenance worker who truly enjoyed his career.

At the age of 63, he was hired to provide his skills on a worksite and set to work to fix an air conditioning unit located on the roof.

The repair required him to ascend a very unsafe ladder with equipment.

Andrew injured his back in the process and was unable to return to work.

We helped Andrew seek compensation for his pain and suffering and loss of income, and got his claim accepted on the basis that he was planning to work well past the age of 65.

Andrew wrote to us expressing his appreciation:

"Thank you for your work on my case. I appreciate all your support and dedication in my time of need. Your professional and timely response helped make a very stressful situation a lot more bearable. I would highly recommend your services to any potential client without reservation."

James suffered a significant back injury in the workplace and came to us seeking assistance with his WorkCover claim. We helped him reach an early settlement, leaving James free to get on with his recovery and his life. James wrote to Henry Carus expressing his gratitude: "Thank you very much for all your help and support to get me back on my feet. It really meant a lot to me mate. Thank you very, very much."

Dr Goloub has a number of patients who are clients of Henry Carus & Associates. He wrote to us to express support for the services we provide to his clients: "As a professional psychologist I treat many patients who are going through legal processes concerning various situations and matters. Therefore I have to deal with the patients lawyers, as I am expected to produce and supply professional papers assisting my patients in their legal matters. From my personal experience I can state that some law firms themselves appear to be an additional source of stress for my psychologically vulnerable clients. In contrast, your firm is a help and a hope for the injured people producing desirable and fair outcomes. This greatly assists me in the process of the patients recovery. I would like to thank you for your human approach in the law business. I hope that we will continue to constructively cooperate in support of our mutual clients.”