Helen Waller

Helen is recognised as an established junior across the field. She acts for both claimants and defendants in multi-track cases in all areas of personal injury law, including employers’ liability, public liability, occupiers’ liability and road traffic cases. She is adept at marshalling complex expert evidence across numerous fields and has been noted for her close analysis of the detail. Helen is experienced at all levels of litigation and regularly appears at CCMCs, multi-day trials, application hearings and JSMs. She is often brought in for quantum work by leading counsel, drafting seven-figure schedules of loss in catastrophic claims, including one pleaded at over £20m. Helen regularly handles JSMs as sole counsel and has been led in an 8-figure mediation.

As a keen road cyclist herself, Helen particularly welcomes instructions in cycling cases. She has been praised for her eye for detail when it comes to liability analyses. Helen regularly works on multi-million pound catastrophic injury cases, including serious brain injuries, paraplegia, brachial plexus injuries, amputations and fatal accidents. She has particular experience and expertise in neurological injuries.

Helen provides bespoke training to both claimant and defendant personal injury practitioners and regularly presents seminars to wider audiences. As a former university lecturer, her seminars are particularly sought after.

Helen is regularly instructed for claimants in both living and fatal mesothelioma claims, as well as cases of asbestosis and pleural thickening, plus other industrial diseases such as occupational asthma and carbon monoxide poisoning. She is well versed in limitation arguments, dependency issues, and regularly drafts pleadings and schedules and appears before the Masters. Helen has recently appeared in the Court of Appeal, instructed for the Appellant in Johnstone -v- Fawcett’s Garage [2023] EWHC 3010 (KB) as a junior to John-Paul Swoboda and Steven Snowden KC.

Helen contributed to two chapters of the first edition of Asbestos Law & Litigation. She regularly provides training for leading claimant asbestos firms and contributes to the 12KBW Asbestos Law Blog.

Helen has particular experience in motor insurance cases, but with her Lloyd’s Market background welcomes instructions in the area of insurance and reinsurance generally.

Helen is frequently instructed in fraud cases, both as sole and junior counsel and welcomes instructions in this field.

She was long-standing junior to a silk for the defendant in an 8-figure TBI claim in which fundamental dishonesty was alleged. Her forensic analysis of the huge quantities of evidence in that case contributed to the case settling for a small fraction of the pleaded claim, weeks before trial.

Her current portfolio of fraud cases includes a case in which she was instructed as junior to a silk in the original action which was compromised and approved, but in which she is now part of the team bringing a new action to have that approved compromise set aside for a fraud that only came to light post-approval. The case involves extremely complex expert and factual evidence, as well as niche procedural issues and a domestic freezing order. Helen has been involved at all stages and enjoyed working collaboratively in a team.

Helen has represented a bereaved family at an inquest into a fatal motorway collision and has experience of an Article 2 inquest involving several branches of the emergency services. She is keen to develop her inquest practice further and will consider pro bono instructions.

A Practical Guide to Injury Claims Involving Cyclists (2022), Patrick Kerr and Helen Waller

Asbestos Law and Litigation, First and Second editions (contributor)

Case report: Dryden v Johnson Matthey plc [2018] UKSC 18, Personal Injury Law Journal June 2018 #166

Clarity from the Supreme Court on the scope of actionable personal injury, PI Focus, May 2018

Thomas Lundmark & Helen Waller (2016) Using statutes and cases in common and civil law, Transnational Legal Theory, 7:4, 429-469

BPTC – Outstanding
LL.M. Deutsches Recht (German Law) – 1st in year
BA (Law) (Cantab)

Queen Mother Scholar, Middle Temple
Harmsworth Exhibition, Middle Temple

Panel member of the British Cycling Disciplinary and Appeals Panel

European Circuit

PIBA

PNBA

She is caring, understanding and tenacious. – Chambers & Partners, 2025

Her dedication to her work is unparalleled and her manner with clients is really noteworthy. – Chambers & Partners, 2025

Helen is an absolute bastion of client service. – Chambers & Partners, 2025

Fabulous all round. – Legal 500, 2025

She has in-depth knowledge and a high level of expertise. – Legal 500, 2017

The set of choice for personal injury matters including travel litigation, which is an area that chambers is constantly strengthening. – Legal 500, 2017

Second-to-none strength in depth and a broad church of barristers, all of whom are fiercely intelligent. – Legal 500, 2015

A wealth of talent at both senior and junior levels acting for both claimants and defendants. – Chambers & Partners, 2015