Solicitors for Knee Injuries

It depends on the injury. An anterior cruciate ligament rupture usually requires reconstruction, and meniscal tears may need arthroscopy to repair or trim the cartilage. Some ligament injuries heal with physiotherapy and bracing alone. The medical evidence will explain what treatment is appropriate and what the recovery is likely to involve.

Where the medical evidence supports it, yes. Damage to the cartilage or to the joint surface is a recognised risk factor for arthritis developing in that knee earlier than it otherwise would have. That is a legitimate element of a claim, provided there is expert evidence explaining the increased risk and its likely effect.

It varies with the procedure. Recovery after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction commonly involves several months of rehabilitation before a return to normal activity, and longer before a return to demanding physical work or sport. Meniscal surgery recovery is usually shorter. The claim should reflect the actual recovery period you experience.

Instability is one of the most significant consequences of a knee injury, because it affects confidence as well as function. A knee that gives way without warning makes walking on uneven ground, using stairs and working in physical roles risky. That has a real effect on daily life and on earning capacity, and it should be reflected in the medical evidence.

Possibly. Sport involves accepting a degree of risk of injury, but where the injury was caused by someone's negligence, such as a dangerous tackle outside the rules of the game or unsafe equipment or premises, a claim may be possible. These cases need careful consideration of what risk the participant could be taken to have accepted.

A soft tissue knee injury that resolves within a few months may settle within six to nine months. Where there has been ligament reconstruction or cartilage surgery, it takes considerably longer, because the claim cannot be valued properly until the recovery and the longer term position are reasonably clear.

It matters a good deal, particularly in work that involves kneeling or squatting, such as plumbing, flooring, gardening, construction and care work. An inability to kneel can end a career entirely, and that has a financial value which the claim should reflect with evidence about what your work requires.

For most claims in England and Wales the limit is three years from the accident. Where the injury developed gradually, the three years usually runs from the date you knew or ought to have known that the injury was connected to what happened. Different rules apply to children and to people who lack capacity.