Helen Waller

Helen is a highly experienced junior with a practice well beyond her year of call. She specialises in personal injury and industrial disease work. Her practice includes catastrophic injury and fatal accidents, both as sole and junior counsel. Helen is regularly instructed on multi-million-pound cases, including complex traumatic brain injuries and amputations. She works for both claimants and defendants, receiving instructions from leading solicitors and major insurers. She has developed particular expertise in quantum. Helen has been instructed as junior to a number of leading practitioners in the field, including Paul Russell KC, Chris Kennedy KC, William Audland KC, David Sanderson, Nigel Lewers and John-Paul Swoboda.

Helen regularly appears in trials, CCMCs, approval hearings and applications against opponents of all seniority, including silks. She also has considerable experience of JSMs, both as sole and junior counsel.

Away from 12KBW Helen enjoys wine tasting, cycling, and travelling.

Personal Injury

Helen acts in multi-track cases in all areas of personal injury law, including employers’ liability, public liability, occupiers’ liability and road traffic cases.

As a keen road cyclist herself, Helen particularly welcomes instructions in cycling cases. She has worked on multi-million-pound catastrophic injury cases, including serious brain injuries, paraplegia, brachial plexus injuries, amputations and fatal accidents.

She has been brought in for quantum work by leading counsel, drafting seven-figure schedules of loss in catastrophic claims, including one pleaded at over £20m.

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.

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Industrial Disease

Helen has a particularly keen interest in industrial disease litigation. She 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 and regularly drafts pleadings and schedules and appears before the Masters.

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.

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Clinical Negligence

Helen’s experience includes cases involving failures to diagnose and sub-standard post-surgical care in hospital. She has worked on cases involving conditions such as cerebral abscesses and loss of sight as well as cosmetic procedures such as laser hair removal and fat grafting. Helen has recently secured a favourable settlement in a multi-party “Brazilian butt lift” case.

She has a strong interest in this field and is keen to develop her practice further, accepting instructions in all aspects of clinical negligence litigation.

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Insurance

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.

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Fraud

Helen has a strong interest in this field and accepts instructions at all levels. She is currently acting as junior trial counsel to a silk in chambers in a multi-million-pound fraud case, conducting forensic analysis of the evidence as part of the wider case strategy.

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Inquests

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.

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Publications

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

Qualifications & Awards

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

Queen Mother Scholar, Middle Temple
Harmsworth Exhibition, Middle Temple

 

Appointments & Memberships

Panel member of the British Cycling Disciplinary and Appeals Panel

European Circuit

PIBA

PNBA

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...Counsel have 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