Hi, I'm Paul Breen

[Paul Breen]

Hi, I'm Paul Breen and I am a spinal injury lawyer. I would like to contribute to the forums and pass on as much information as possible which will be of use. Very few people actually understand how lawyers such as myself can help as they have had no reason to talk to someone such as me before. Spinal injury lawyers provide more than compensation, we can provide private rehabilitation, 24 hour nursing care and help with adaptations to housing. We can also supply modified vehicles, in home technology and immediate financial assistance. Please feel free to ask any questions you have, regardless of where in the world you are, and I will contribute wherever I can.  Paul

0800616681

[Apparelyzed]

Hi Paul,

Can you double check your web address, as it doesn't seem to be working.

Regards

Simon

[Apparelyzed]

Don't worry, it's working now.

Must of been leaves on that bit of wet string I'm using for my connection!

Simon

[Andy]

you really should invest in broadband

[Paul Breen]

Great, seems fine here too. Any further help you need please let me know. There is a lot of information on the site such as DVD's etc. If you have a problem locating it, please drop me a line.

[Gary Anderson]

Hi Paul

Have to admit I am a bit wary about lawyers with good reason! However, welcome to the site.

I have looked through your website and wonder why there is no such representation in the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit, which is based at The Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.

Having suffered 2 serious accidents in the past 20 years, I have to admit that I was completely unaware that such firms existed and I doubt very much if any other spinally injured person would know that either. Most of us just tend to wade through the red tape having whatever adaptations necessary made to our houses. Or, if we are unlucky, waiting until a local Council can pass the necessary plans/rehouse us or whatever. In some cases we even struggle and scrape to pay for the adaptations.

I am sure that a service such as yours could be of use to loads of folk but how do they get to know about it? Until I spotted this site by accident on the web, I did not even know that such forums existed.

Just a thought for the future. If I dont know you exist who else does not? I don't think I have heard of such a legal service here in Glasgow - unless they are keeping it very quiet.

[Paul Breen]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the reply. What you say is exactly correct, it is very difficult for us to communicate our service as we are often tarred with the 'personal injury lawyer' brush, with people not understanding exactly what we as spinal injury lawyers do. This is understandable as most of our clients have had no reason to come into contact with us before, and there is no guidance to help people select a law firm that meets their needs (accreditations, experience etc). In addition it is often very late in the process when we are contacted. This often means that people have been struggling on, trying to adapt their houses etc on their own, which is a terrible situation to be in.

We try to organise presentations to doctors and consultants at spinal units to describe ourselves, in the hope that our service can be understood, but we find it difficult to break down barriers to even organise these meetings.

If there is any further information that you would like, I will do everything I can to help.

[Gary Anderson]

Your answer gives it in a nutshell Paul. Sadly, the fact is that when you end up in a spinal unit, the information given to you is very thin on the ground. The hospital tell you what you have to do to adapt your house but they dont take into account the time it takes to get things organised You cannot do things like that instantly, especially if the SCI patient is a tetraplegic and the alterations are extensive.

I tend to find that the length of time you are told you will be in a spinal unit has no bearing on your rehab - this is often completed well before the time limit - the reason for the delay is having your accommodation adapted. I know that was the case in my situation - I could have been home in less time but it took ages to get conversions done and I am only a paraplegic.

To me it seems that SCI is becoming more common these days and as a doctor I wish the SCI unit in Glasgow would be a bit more concerned as to how the families feel when hearing of SCI. They are trapped in a minefield where they just do not know that there are companies such as yours, or forums like this. So they are at the mercy of the hospital. Of course, their concern is to rehab and send the patient out ASAP.

I know of one woman who has been "trapped" in the spinal unit in Glasgow for nearly 18 months - she should have been out in 6!! But the COuncil are maintaining there is a problem with her conversions. So, the poor woman, is still sitting around in the spinal unit waiting. It is high time our SCI unit in Glasgow got to realise that you cannot just find money from nowhere if you require to vastly modify your house, or even worse, if you live in rented accommodation you are at the mercy of the COuncil.

Still, thanks for your reply. I just wish I had known about services like this 20 years ago!!!!

[Apparelyzed]

How's this for irony?

For the 12 months prior to my accident, I was involved in the editing of videos used as evidence for those with large compensation cases.

I contacted the firm of solicitors, Irwin Mitchell within a week of my accident, as I had a good idea what would be involved in a compensation claim.

But if it wasn't for my work in producing those viseos, I wouldn't of had a clue, as it wasn't something you thought about.

Simon.

[Paul Breen]

That is exactly why we have so much information on our website, as we want as many people as possible to have access to the best information. At least then they can ensure that the law firm that they select is properly regulated and understands the exact needs of all of those affected, including family members. We see some terrible cases of people going to the wrong firm. The DVD of our actual clients shows exactly how we can help, and we hope is a great resource.

[Gary Anderson]

Simon, 20 years ago, I knew NOTHING about such things either. My compo was dealt with by British Rail. I have to say for what I suffered then and still do, the compo was not a great deal - not considering the train driver had been at fault by going through a red light. However, there was nobody to tell me then that such companies existed so I just had to accept what they offered. How does the ordinary person know about such things if there is nobody to properly advise them?

When I had my most recent accident with my brother in law, again, nobody was giving out legal advice in hospital. Least said on that the better - because when somebody did suggest it, it almost broke up the whole family. So, going on the basis that family was more important to me and in any case, although life-threatening I did survive, I have never pursued the legal position. I know that is just my personal opinion but I put the family before myself and considering that the injuries did not involve paralysis, then the compo did not seem important.

The effects of the accident will be felt throughout our family for time to come and considering the trauma that was caused by the eventual death of a close family member, my suffering paled into insignificance.

It is the "compo" and "suing" part of doctoring that I absolutely detest. Nowadays, we are a nation of "sue them" or "what can I get for that." The hospital I work in has a "gravy train" of them. However, at least I can advise others that such companies are out there.

[Paul Breen]

Thanks for your support Gary.

People being advised by inexperienced law firms cause the barriers that we have to overcome to even talk about our service. This is really frustrating as we do not get the opportunity to explain why we are different. We distance ourselves from the 'compo' culture as our service is about so much more.

[mttb14]

Hi Paul,

Well its nice to actually come across a solicitor (lawyer) who is interested in a persons actual injury.

The company who dealt with my husbands incomplete spinal injury were next to useless, and they did not listen to things you told them.

Example:-  I'd say he had muscle spasms during the night which caused his body to jerk about and leap off the bed, but he had a problem with tight tendons due to a problem with release phenomenon because of mixed up signals, 2 seconds later the solicitor would say, so he has muscle spasms walking up stairs.  I used to print of large sections from this site and from Apparalysed (Simon's site) and email them to the solicitors.  I even suggested that the solicitor looked at the sites so that he would get a better insight, but that also went unheeded.

Luckily I had worked for accident investigators for several years, so I understood how you have to push and how detailed you have to be, but I do think we would have had a much better out come if we had used a specialist spinal firm of solicitors.

The best person in John's claim was Dr Harry Baker, he is a Spinal Specialist in Wales and he used to take personal calls and emails from us with any worries we had, he always either emailed back or phoned us, he even phoned at 11.30 pm one evening to make sure that John was not having an attack of Autonomic dysreflexia because in the day during a medical John's blood pressure was high and he was having problems urinating.  He was the specialist doctor for John as part of his claim, but he was the only one out of the whole team of solicitors, barristers and doctors who understood an incomplete spinal injury, and he kept us sane during the 8 years from the accident to the end of the claim.  If ever you are looking for a Spinal Specialist for one of your clients, I cannot recommend him highly enough.  He works out of Cardiff, but he was the Specialist in Rookwood Spinal Hospital.

Anyway, glad to see you on this site, and hopefully you can at least make a bad situation less stressful than a lot of other solicitors.  My view is that if they are going to deal with these major claims, they should at least find out a little about the subject matter first, especially in a day and age when the internet holds so much information which can be found so easily.

Also if more solicitors read these sites they would find that the vast majority of spinal injured people, actually get on with their lives in the best way they can, many working through chronic pain, but realising that this is their life now, and the only alternative is to lie there and waste away or to get on with it.

I have attached a letter which I sent to the solicitor in John's case and I still feel so choked up when I read it, it describes our day to day life.

LETTER TO PEOPLE WITHOUT CHRONIC PAIN:

http://www.apparelyzed.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64&hl=

It is a real insight.

Sorry if this reads as a rant, it is actually a welcome.

Maria

[Paul Breen]

Maria,

I can only begin to understand how frustrated you must have been at the time, it was lucky that you were so determined. Over 20 years I have worked with a lot of medical experts to get a detailed understanding of all physiological and psychological changes that occur as a result of spinal injury. The type of information we review, and people we work with, are from medical as well as legal fields. We do this so we understand exactly how we can help, and to ensure our clients do not encounter the problems you came up against.

If you need any links to the latest research articles drop me a mail and I will send you some links.

[HARRY]

Hi Paul,
          Where abouts are you situated ?

[Paul Breen]

Hi Harry,

I am in the UK. If you need any further info, drop me a line.

Paul