Jessica Muurman

Jessica regularly appears in, or advises on, public liability and employer liability claims, and claims involving road traffic accidents. Jessica accepts instructions for both claimants and defendants.

She appears in court several times a week in both liability and quantum disputes, including cases with issues such as fraud and provisional damages. She is an experienced courtroom advocate, with further instructions in preliminary hearings, disposal hearings, stage 3 hearings, and infant approval hearings.

Jessica’s paperwork practice similarly covers the breadth of personal injury work, and includes drafting statements of case, and advising on both liability and quantum.

Jessica has a keen interest in all areas of clinical negligence. She was exposed to a number of different medical disciplines during her pupillage, including cases arising from sepsis, spinal and brain injury, vascular injury (including strokes and heart attacks), delayed diagnosis (including cancer), psychiatric care, and claims by secondary victims.

With her academic background in biomedical sciences, Jessica is well-placed to understand and quickly grasp complex medical and biological issues that arise in expert evidence.

Jessica has experience advising in insurance disputes, including cases concerning policy scope and exclusion clauses, in a variety of contexts, including: property damage, defective workmanship, and private healthcare policies. She also has experience in cases with indemnity disputes between parties, for example between primary and subsidiary companies.

Jessica is also well versed with cases involving indemnity disputes between insurers in the road traffic arena. She has experience of cases under the MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement and the MIB Untraced Drivers Agreement.

Jessica has extensive experience in credit hire, and is well-versed in all relevant case law pertinent to need, enforceability, rate, period and impecuniosity.

Recent case examples include:

• Having a claim dismissed for lack of need;
• Reducing claims to £nil, by limiting claims to loss of profit under Hussain v EUI;
• Significant savings related to Copley v Lawn intervention attempts;
• Success from disproving or debarring impecuniosity.

Jessica accepts instructions to represent parties at inquests, including pre-inquest review hearings. She has particular experience in inquests involving allegations of clinical negligence, and is keen to develop this area of her practice.

Jessica is instructed in industrial disease matters, particularly in a military context, including in claims for non-freezing cold injuries. Jessica is keen to build her disease practice.

Through her ProBono work prior to joining the Bar, Jessica worked on a number of cases including claims brought against the police and public bodies. She is adept at dealing with cases sensitively yet robustly, and is keen to develop this area of practice.

At a recent conference, Jessica spoke as a member of the 12KBW travel team on Rome II and jurisdiction case law. She is keen to develop her travel practice, having gained particular experience in both Package Travel Regulations and cases governed by Rome II during her pupillage.

• Bar Vocational Studies (Distinction), City Law School (2023)
• Graduate Diploma in Law (Distinction), University of Law (2021)
• BSc Biomedical Sciences (First-Class Honours), Durham University (2020)

• Headridge and Residential Bar Course Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
• City Law School Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Bar Vocational Studies Scholarship (City, University of London)
• Dame Joyanne Bracewell GDL Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
• Lee Essay Prize, Runner-up (Gray’s Inn)
• University of Law (Sheffield) Mooting Competition 2021, Winner
• Sheffield University Herbert Smith Freehills Mooting Competition 2021, Winner
• University of Law (Sheffield) Plea-in-Mitigation Competition 2021, Winner
• Durham University Mooting Novice Cup 2019, Runner-up

• 12KBW International and Travel Law Blog Post: “Of Spanish Interest (Part 2): Nicholls v Mapfre & Woodward v Mapfre [2024] EWCA Civ 718“
• 12KBW Personal Injury Law Blog Post: “Criminal injuries compensation and “Daisy’s Law””