Focus On… Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury

News from the Hardwicke Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury Team

The team has been very much in the public eye recently:

• Colm Nugent successfully persuaded the High Court to make its first every ruling on the duties of McKenzie friends/unlicensed legal representatives.  This landmark ruling has raised the issue with the public and also those in Parliament.  Colm is currently liaising with a number of MPs regarding government intervention in this area.  He and Jasmine Murphy also recently took part in a Legal 500 round table discussion on the topic aimed at raising public awareness and prompting greater control.
• Charles Bagot QC meanwhile succeeded in an important appeal for NHS Wales concerning consent to treatment, departing from NICE guidelines, joint replacement surgery, appeals on findings of fact and the adequacy of judicial reasons.
• Aneurin Moloney‘s Brushett v Hazeldean case involving a pedestrian injured by a cyclist aroused strong feelings when reported.
• Gemma Witherington also made the Daily Mail as she has been acting for Mr D’Agostino who was injured when he fell whilst carrying a vase at Yotam Ottolenghi’s restaurant in Belgravia.   Mr D’Agostino’s employer, the florist Caroline Farthing, whom he accompanied whilst she was replenishing clients’ floral displays, was held responsible and ordered to pay substantial damages.
• Less controversially, Gemma added an appointment as Civil Recorder, Midland Circuit (the youngest ever such appointment) to her appointment as a Deputy District Judge.

We should also mention that we will be welcoming Carolyn McCombe as Practice Director in December 2019.  Carolyn is taking over from Deborah Anderson who is retiring after 40 years working with the Bar.  You can find out more details about Carolyn here.

Events

The Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury team give regular seminars, including seminars for junior lawyers (J2J) and cross-over practice area seminars. These seminars are not only a great way to brush up on areas of the law but also to network with like-minded lawyers and get to know members of chambers.

Recent Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury seminars included:

• 16 April 2019 – An introduction to Professional Negligence claims arising out of Personal Injury claims 
• 22 May 2019 – Injuries Caused by Animals – A Guide for PI Lawyers 
• 05 June 2019 – J2J Commercial Fraud Conference 
• 11 July 2019 – J2J: Losses arising from Personal Injury claims: What can be claimed and how do you plead it? 

If you are interested in attending any seminars at Hardwicke and/or would like more information about an event and/or a copy of the materials, just get in touch by emailing events@gatehouselaw.co.uk.   You can also take a look at our upcoming events here.  If you would like to be on our mailing list, sign up here.

Articles

Here you can find all of the articles written this year by the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury team. Click on a title to read the full article:

• High Court issues a warning shot to McKenzie Friends in Paul Wright v Troy Lucas (a firm) & George Rusz 
• Consultation starts as to whether to alter the law to allow inquests into stillbirths 
• Refusing Medical Treatment: Evidencing Unreasonableness 
• Stillbirths, Coronial Inquests and a New Approach to Investigations 
• Charles Bagot QC succeeds in important appeal for NHS Wales touching on consent to treatment, departing from NICE guidelines, joint replacement surgery, approach to appeals on findings of fact and adequacy of judicial reasons 
• Government Proposes Reform to the Statutory Bereavement Award 
• You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Defending Applications for Interim Payments 
• Focus On…Professional Liability

Click here to see all articles and case comments.

Podcasts and videos

• The Podcast is now available to download and subscribe wherever you get yours. Keep an eye out for our Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury podcasts we have lined up!  The first deals with Colm Nugent’s case, Wright v Troy Lucas & George Rusz, and looks at the duties now imposed by the court on McKenzie friends/unregulated legal advisers.  These short podcasts give a slightly more informal view on topical legal issues.  You can access these via our website where they appear on the home page, Latest Thinking page and on the profile pages and practice area pages relevant to the practice area/s involved.
• We also provide videos to accompany the talks we have given.  In the Clinical Negligence/Personal Injury areas, you can now watch the videos for:
  • An introduction to professional negligence claims arising out of personal cases
  • An introduction to commercial fraud
  • Losses arising from personal injury claims: what can be claimed and how do you plead it?

Legal Directories

We are delighted to report that the Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury team did really well in both Legal 500 and Chambers UK.  All members of the team over 10 years call are recommended with Legal 500 recommending Hardwicke as a set for Personal Injury work.  Gemma Witherington is also recommended for Insurance Fraud.

Legal 500 referred to the fact that “Hardwicke is excellent from top to bottom” and referred to the fact that it is “an exciting, forward-thinking, solutions-focused set with a huge amount of commercial expertise“.  Practice Manager, Natasha Clingham-Devlin, who manages the Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury team was singled out for special mention: “an outstanding clerk, always helpful, very good at actioning matters urgently, and delivering a good service“.  Indeed one client said: “They are not a stuffy set.  There is a real relationship between them and those instructing them….the best thing about chambers is its service“.

Chambers UK is similarly fulsome: “The set has adopted a really commercial approach and the clerking system is superb at Hardwicke.” 

You can read all Hardwicke’s recommendations in Chambers UK here and Legal 500 here

Areas of Expertise

The team covers all the following areas of Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury:

• Clinical Negligence 
• Disease 
• Fraud 
• Inquests & Inquiry 
• Personal Injury 
• Product Liability 

You can find out more about each area by going to the Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury expertise page.  If you would like to discuss a possible instruction, please contact the Practice Management Team.