In Week 4, I proofread draft legal documents, such as statements of claim, statements of damages, and witness statements for PI cases. I also drafted quantification memos, including a memo for a common law claim to explore the possibility of a settlement.

In this case, an elderly AP was hit by a vehicle while walking across the road. She suffered multiple injuries and underwent multiple surgeries.

Typically, a quantification memo would include a summary of the material facts, followed by medical procedures, and the current status of the case. If proceedings have not been commenced yet, the memo would explore the quantification to be put forward to the counter-party in hopes of reaching a settlement.

If liability is contested, the memo will then need to discuss liability. Often, the driver would have been convicted of careless driving, and usually, the claimant will go after the owner of the vehicle in addition to the driver as the owner is presumably in a more financially sound position to make compensation. It is important to assess whether there was contributory negligence(sometimes the AP may lie, or simply could not remember). That involves looking at the camcorder, the statements made with the Police, and conducting research on the courts’ apportionment of contributory negligence in cases with similar fact patterns.

Then comes the quantification part. We ask the question, considering the AP’s injuries and pre-existing illness (especially when the aided person is an elderly, one has to distinguish the specific injuries sufferred as a result of the accident from a whole array of pre-existing illnesses s/he suffered), and that involves communicating with the AP and looking at the medical records to verify. Regarding each injury, I looked at precedents with similar material facts and quantification, analysed the comparability of the precedents to the present case, and estimated the amount for a worst-case, reasonable case and best-case scenario.

This estimated amount becomes the basis on which a party bargains with the other side.