Suzanne is a Partner who has specific expertise in complex claims involving serious brain injuries in adults and she is passionate about resolving claims swiftly and without delay.
She is recognised by Chambers and Partners 2023 as a key lawyer in clinical negligence, and they say of her: “Suzanne Trask is great – very experienced and hard-working.”
Examples of the cases that Suzanne has led to successful settlement include:
- Delay in diagnosing tuberculous meningitis of a young mother, leading to a catastrophic brain injury. She was left with permanent blindness, paralysed on one side of her body, a significant brain injury and she had no way of communicating. We secured a large interim compensation payment whilst the claim was ongoing, to set up an extensive private care and treatment package and move the family to more suitable housing. The case settled for an eight-figure sum after being hard fought by the Defendant NHS Trust.
- Representing a young male passenger in a car collision, who went on to suffer an extremely serious traumatic brain injury, leading to an inability to make decisions for themselves, speech and language difficulties, challenging behaviour and fatigue. Our support and work lead to our client living independently following discharge from a residential rehabilitation unit and a multi-disciplinary package of therapy and care, funded by interim compensation payments throughout the claim, in line with the Serious Injury Guide, until settlement in a seven-figure sum was agreed.
- Our client suffering a significant stroke, caused by a blood clot forming due to her abnormal heart rhythm being untreated. She suffered with paralysis on one side of her body, an extensive brain injury and had high care needs coupled with a limited life expectancy. We secured an interim payment to fund the vital care she needed for the remainder of her life and adaptations to her home to improve her quality of life.
- Our client, a pedestrian, suffering a catastrophic brain injury and multiple fractures after being involved in a collision with a car. He requires 24 hour care in a residential unit, and remains in a state of limited consciousness after the collision. Using the Rehabilitation Code, we successfully negotiated interim compensation to fund our client’s immediate rehabilitation needs. Robust reconstruction evidence helped prove liability before concluding our client’s claim for a sum that will support him for the rest of his life.
- Our client, a young man, suffered a brain injury after being inappropriately physically restrained for a long time by untrained security staff in hospital. At the same time, he was inadequately monitored by clinical staff. His brain was starved of oxygen. He did not recover consciousness, remaining in a coma for 9 years, until he sadly passed away. A negligence claim was brought against the security company and the hospital trust and was hard fought. Our expertise means we were well placed to guide the family through the overlapping claim and inquest processes and assist in our client’s repatriation to his home country.
She is passionate about supporting survivors of brain injury and is recognised as a specialist head injury lawyer by Headway. She has close ties with The Silverlinings charity, of which she is a trustee. Both of these charities provide invaluable services and support to adults who have suffered from brain injury.
Suzanne is Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and has been involved with working groups on the government’s fixed costs proposals for medical negligence claims, a subject on which she has commented on in the national and legal press.
She has delivered training to the national Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (set up by NHS England) as part of their investigator training, alongside a number of high profile patient safety campaigners. Suzanne is also a member of the Ogden Working Party.
She is frequently invited to provide comment to the national and the legal media and on issues relating to serious injury and safety.
Professional memberships
- Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) – Fellow, Vice-President and accredited clinical negligence and brain injury specialist
- Headway UK – accredited specialist brain injury solicitor
- Trustee of The Silverlining – brain injury charity
- Acquired Brain Injury London member (ABIL)
- UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF)
- Royal Society of Medicine – Senior Associate
