12KBW Annual Conference – London

Joel C. T. Kendall

Joel specialises in personal injury, employment law and clinical negligence. He has extensive experience of working at the interface of personal injury and employment, in particular in the areas of workplace stress and harassment. He is regularly instructed by some of the leading claimant and defendant solicitors. In addition he is instructed by public authorities and Trade Unions. 

Joel regularly provides lectures on a variety of employment and personal injury areas, including the operation of the Johnson exclusion area, a difficult and complex subject affecting both personal injury and employment litigation.

Outside the law Joel’s interests include classical music, cinema and Wycombe Wanderers FC.

Sarah Beslee

Sarah is highly experienced in all aspects of personal injury law, from cases involving complex orthopaedic and psychiatric injuries to cases involving fraud.  She has particular expertise in public authority liability, Animals Act 1971 cases (including equine cases) and credit hire. She regularly acts for Defendants in cases involving fraud / fundamental dishonesty.

Sarah has been a visiting academic tutor at King’s College, London.

Daniel Tobin

Dan specialises in high value, complex personal injury, motor claims, property damage and general insurance work.

He has been listed as a Leading Junior in Personal Injury since 2010. He is currently listed as band 2 in The Legal 500 and band 3 in Chambers and Partners.

In Chambers and Partners 2023, he is described as “a very user-friendly barrister who puts clients and witnesses immediately at their ease”. He is also described as “really straight-talking and [with] a great command of the courtroom”.

Other directory’ feedback includes: “An outstanding advocate who presents cases in a straightforward and eloquent manner. (Legal 500, 2021), “a strong negotiator who presses the right buttons to obtain maximum results” (Legal 500, 2019), and “very client-focused, extremely personable and a skilled negotiator” (Legal 500, 2017)

Dan deals with liability and quantum disputes in all forms of RTA, EL and PL claims.  He is equally at home in all aspects of modern personal injury practice, whether it be settling detailed Schedules and Counter Schedules of Loss, preparing for and attending JSMs or cross-examining experts at trial. He is often instructed in cases where there are elements of fraud, malingering and/or exaggeration.

He has extensive experience of amputation and prosthetics, catastrophic brain injury, spinal injuries, chronic pain and somatoform conditions.

He often appears on his own against Leading Counsel.

Recent Defendant cases include:

• a claim against a former employee of a large statutory undertaker who was alleging that CRPS had caused a lifelong loss of earnings, where surveillance evidence utilised at trial established malingering;
• a claim arising from the allegedly negligent installation of a domestic hot water system which caused severe burns leading to amputation;
• proceedings brought by a former Team GB martial artist who claimed seven-figure damages for, inter alia, being deprived of the opportunity to compete at the Tokyo Olympics;
• a claim arising from the life-altering injuries caused when the claimant was deliberately run down and left for dead by an ex-boyfriend;
• a double fatality caused on the M42 motorway, caused by flooding which was said to have been caused by negligently installed telecommunications apparatus;
• representing a local authority in proceedings brought on behalf of a child who was blinded by the allegedly negligent use of a lawnmower.

In terms of his Claimant work, Dan has been described as “the go-to man for highways claims” (Chambers & Partners, 2018). He is proud of the fact that “he has an excellent knowledge of the Highways Act and a feel for injured cyclists”. (Legal 500, 2018) but remains “a very approachable and down-to-earth barrister”. (Chambers & Partners, 2018).

Recent successfully concluded Claimant cases include:

• representing the Estate of a triathlete killed as a result of a hitting a pothole in the highway whilst training for Ironman Wales;
• acting for a cyclist who suffered C3/C4 spinal cord injury as a result of an accident on the highway;
• representing a dental surgeon who suffered extensive maxillo-facial and dental injuries in a cycling accident;
• acting for a claimant who suffered a significant spinal injury whilst riding a quadbike on the public highway;
• a claim on behalf of an elderly resident in a care home who fell down an open lift shaft;
• acting for a pedestrian who suffered a very significant ankle fracture when tripping on a tree pit located on London Southbank;
• a claim for a cyclist who was deliberately run over by a motorist.

Dan has also, for several years, acted for a number of large institutional defendants in claims arising from the allegedly defective installation of cavity wall systems, being work which in more recent times turns on fairly technical insurance indemnity issues arising from the significant number of CWI claims pursued under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010.

He has two teenage daughters and lives in London. Outside of work he rides his bike (a lot), enjoys reading, eating out and the cinema. He is a qualified skydiver, has a black belt in Korean kickboxing and still harbours the (albeit ever-diminishing) ambition of completing an Ironman triathlon.

Jake Loomes

Jake completed his pupillage in October 2023 and has been accepting instructions since April 2023. Jake is instructed in Fast-Track and Small Claims matters in personal injury, road traffic accidents, credit hire, stage 3 hearings, negligence, and contractual dispute claims. During his pupillage he has gained experience in industrial disease, complex personal injury, indemnity, clinical negligence, international, and military claims. Jake is interested in all of the core areas of Chambers’ work.

Prior to pupillage, Jake worked as a paralegal for the Infected Blood Inquiry where he assisted with drafting witness questions and conducting research in advance of hearings.

Jake has a wide array of experience having worked for several leading national law firms as a paralegal, working on, amongst other things, subrogated motor recoveries, personal injury, and consumer rights claims.

In addition to his practical experience, Jake obtained a distinction on the Barrister Training Course, having received a full scholarship from Middle Temple for his studies. Jake has a masters degree in international commercial law from UCL. During his masters he focused primarily on the laws around complex commercial contractual disputes and the remedies available, Jake has a first-class law degree from Swansea University where he ranked in the top 3 of his cohort. During his studies Jake volunteered as an advocate for the Free Representation Unit, successfully representing clients in social security appeals.

Outside of work, Jake is a keen hockey player and enjoys running, cycling, and climbing. He is yet to take the plunge with a full triathlon but hopes to join the lofty heights of the 12 KBW triathlon team soon.

James Pickering

James is recognised as a leading practitioner in cases involving serious injuries and fatal accidents, with expertise in international and group litigation.

Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 describe him as “an excellent barrister” who is “razor-sharp and super responsive”. He “has a brilliantly analytical yet creative legal intellect which he brings to bear in the most legally challenging of claims, with jurisdictional issues being a particular forte of his.” He is recommended as “pragmatic and meticulous, and always on hand in the most difficult of cases. His presence at your side is a reassuring one.”

James edits the leading practitioner textbooks in his main areas of practice: Occupational Illness Litigation, Asbestos: Law & Litigation, and Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service (Accidents Abroad).

William Audland KC

William is ranked as a leading silk in the major directories in all his principal areas of practice - international and travel, personal injury, clinical negligence and sports law - and specialises in cross-border claims which combine these areas of expertise. He represents both claimants and defendants, and has a growing practice as a mediator.

Nina Ross

Nina is ranked as a leading junior in personal injury in the current editions of Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, which note that Nina is “crystal-clear in her thinking and analysis” (Legal 500) and has “a commanding presence when on her feet” (Chambers and Partners).

Nina specialises in claims arising out of sexual and physical assaults; harassment claims; military claims; international and group litigation; and human rights aspects of personal injury law. She has been instructed in high-profile litigation in these fields, including in:

• Sayn-Wittgenstein v Juan Carlos 1 [2023] EWHC 2478 (KB) (led by Jonathan Caplan KC and Andrew Green KC): claim for harassment brought against the former King of Spain
• X v Kuoni [2021] UKSC 34 (led by William Audland KC): a claim brought under the 1992 Package Travel Regulations for sexual assaults committed by a hotel employee in Sri Lanka, which was referred by the Supreme Court to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on a point of European law.
• Alseran & Others v Ministry of Defence [2017] EWHC 3289 (QB) [2018] 3 W.L.R. 95 (led by Richard Hermer KC and Harry Steinberg KC): claims against the MoD brought by Iraqi civilians who allege that they were assaulted and unlawfully detained by UK military personnel during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Given her areas of specialism, Nina has particular experience of claims for psychiatric injury and the complex issues of causation that arise.

She is an authority on limitation periods and is co-author of Personal Injury Limitation Law, Bloomsbury (2020) which has received excellent reviews: https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/personal-injury-limitation-law-9781526508607/

Before coming to the Bar, Nina worked on torture and abuse cases in the international and group claims department of Leigh Day & Co Solicitors; at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands; as well as at JUSTICE; Liberty; and the Legal Resources Centre in Durban, South Africa.

Dr. Achas Burin

Achas enjoys a varied practice in 12KBW’s core areas. She is keen to tackle research on complex points, including procedural ones and those involving a crossover between different spheres of law. She welcomes instructions in matters that cross the boundary between tort and public law. She is currently instructed in the Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing and the Lampard Inquiry into mental health provision in Essex. She previously had a longstanding involvement in the Infected Blood Inquiry and the Kenya Emergency Group Litigation.

She acted as a junior in Coventry v Lawrence (No. 3) [2015] UKSC 50, the landmark Supreme Court case concerning whether the costs regime under the Access to Justice Act 1999 complied with human rights law.

She was also instructed in X v Kuoni Travel [2019] C-578/19, both in the Supreme Court and before the Court of Justice of the European Union, alongside William Audland KC and Nina Ross.

Achas is a Lecturer in Law at Oxford Brookes University, where she teaches tort law and medical law. She is also a Board member for a non-profit bike workshop, the Broken Spoke Bicycle Co-operative.

Stephen Worthington KC

Stephen was described in the 2016 Chambers Directory as “one of the top silks at the Personal Injury Bar”.

His work involves very high value catastrophic injury claims principally for insurers.

He also has a particular specialism in motor insurance law for which he is considered to be one of the UK’s pre-eminent lawyers.

Stephen has worked for MIB for many years and is now one of their principal advisers on technical insurance issues.

He works for all the major insurance companies and Defendant personal injury firms.

He has been a Recorder since 2002 and he is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn.

Charles Robertshaw

Charles specialises in complex personal injury claims. He is regularly instructed for both claimants and defendants in a wide range of personal injury work involving serious injury and death, including: employers’ liability, public liability, highways claims, clinical negligence, and road traffic liability. Charles’ practice involves claims of high value, including some in excess of £1 million.

Charles is known for combining his notorious attention to detail and thorough preparation with an ability to identify the key issues in the case and provide pragmatic, clear, logical advice to his clients.

Charles is an experienced, persuasive and robust trial advocate. He is approachable and builds a strong rapport with his instructing solicitors and clients.

Where settlement is appropriate for his clients, he is a skilled negotiator both in JSM’s and in mediations and regularly achieves successful outcomes for his clients without recourse to trial.

David Green

David is a leading personal injury junior. “The quality of David’s advice is second to none” (Legal 500 2022).

In personal injury he specialises in occupational and environmental disease claims, including all aspects of asbestos disease, and noise-induced hearing loss.

He maintains a particular interest and specialism in military cases, and is instructed in the ongoing military deafness litigation (led by Harry Steinberg KC).

David is also ranked as a rising star in employment law. “David is an excellent advocate and is able to think very well on his feet. He has very good technical knowledge of both the law and procedure” (Legal 500 2022).

Cases include:

Abbott v Ministry of Defence [2022] EWHC 1807 (QB): represented nearly 3,500 claimants for noise-induced hearing loss and/or tinnitus brought against the MOD (led by Harry Steinberg KC).

Wokingham Borough Council v Arshad [2022] EWHC 2419 (KB): successful appeal on behalf of a local authority against claim for psychiatric damage, brought by a taxi driver after a mistake in the taxi licensing process.

David also appeared for the successful Respondent in Greene v Davies [2022] EWCA Civ 414, an appeal concerning an important point of law on abuse of process in regulatory disciplinary proceedings.

Michael Rawlinson KC

Michael’s principal areas of practice are claims in which exposure to noxious substances are alleged to have led to long-term adverse health effects. He is instructed by victims, exposers and their insurers.

Since such claims often involve the development of cancer many years after exposure, much of his instruction requires the marshaling and presentation of very large quantities of historical documents evidencing or negativing either the fact of exposure or the guilty knowledge relating to it.

He works extensively with lawyers from other common law jurisdictions. Under this general description fall specific areas of litigation: occupational exposure to asbestos/other carcinogens and exposure to manufactured products made available to the public.

In addition he accepts a significant number of instructions each year on behalf of service personnel (or their survivors) where injury arises from service life. He is often instructed to appear at the initial fact-finding Inquest and thereafter within subsequent civil litigation. He is regularly instructed in respect of air crashes (fixed and rotary wing) and other aspects of aviation health and safety. More generally, Michael is instructed by insurers where a wider strategic interest arises out of specific litigation. He considers to be a core part of his work to regularly give talks seeking to signpost where the law of causation appears to be heading. He accepts instructions from ‘both sides’ in catastrophic head and spinal injury.

Notwithstanding the advent of 0% CFA/QOCS claims he is not risk averse where legally interesting or otherwise significant issues arise. Recent work has required him to provide advocacy arising from such diverse topics as the nature of the UK’s level of control over Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, the system of International aviation regulation operating within the UK, the alleged effect of environmental exposure to organophosphates and the historical behaviour of manufacturers of asbestos products within the UK market.

When instructed to lead a team, he always tries to foster a collegiate approach to the litigation because he firmly believes that helps the entire team to provide maximum value to the client.

Rebecca Henshaw-Keene

Rebecca joined Chambers in October 2023 following the successful completion of her pupillage.

Rebecca accepts instructions in all of Chambers’ practice areas. She is instructed in fast track and small claims personal injury matters, applications and interim hearings. Rebecca is also developing a growing paperwork practice across Chambers’ core areas.

During pupillage she gained experience in high-value personal injury, industrial disease, international and military claims, fraud, and costs.

Prior to pupillage, Rebecca worked for eighteen months as a paralegal to a personal injury silk specialising in catastrophic injury.

Before coming to the Bar, Rebecca worked in the NHS and local authorities on health service planning and management, experience she brings to her practice. She was also an Honorary Lecturer at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, where she taught contract administration and law.

Rebecca studied History at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she graduated with a first-class degree. She was awarded a postgraduate scholarship from Newnham College to undertake the MPhil in Economic and Social History. Her MPhil thesis explored women’s political participation.

She is a recipient of the Haldane and Lord Denning Scholarships from Lincoln’s Inn and won the BPP GDL Mooting Cup in 2018.

Andrew Roy KC

Andrew specialises in complex, sensitive and high value cases involving personal injury (especially catastrophic claims), costs, industrial disease, clinical negligence, professional negligence, limitation and related areas.

Andrew has a significant appellate practice. He is head of the 12KBW Costs Team.  He sits as a Deputy Costs Judge of the Senior Courts.

Andrew is ranked in both Personal Injury and Costs by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. They note that he has “A razor-sharp intellect coupled with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the case law, who is able to combine both into dazzling and fearless advocacy”, is “incredibly bright and tenacious”, “concise, pays enormous attention to detail and is excellent with clients", and “very thorough, persistent and persuasive in court" with “a great ability to distill the most complex legal arguments”.

The directories also recommend Andrew as being“adept at handling challenging cases of high complexity”, “a ferocious advocate in court”, “a great strategist with an eye for the big picture at all times”, “legally savvy” a “fierce advocate, who is very bright but also practical”, "a great choice of counsel when you know you have a fight on your hands” and "Exceptional - he is straight to the point, technical and an all-round great barrister."

As one of only a handful of barristers ranked by the directories in both personal injury and costs, Andrew brings this in-depth crossover expertise to both his personal injury cases and his costs work. The directories note that in respect to personal injury, he is “a strong negotiator and has the added value of real costs expertise” who is “Valued by instructing solicitors for his considerable knowledge of costs issues”. They likewise note that in respect of costs he “draws strength to his practice through his personal injury expertise.”

Andrew is Head of Pupillage at 12KBW.

Thomas Banks

Tom is ranked as a Personal Injury Leading Junior in Legal 500. He specialises in catastrophic, complex and high value Personal Injury claims, Insurance Law, Inquests, Military claims, Fraud and Costs.

His specialist personal injury practice focuses on Brain and Spinal Injuries, Fatal Accidents, Motor Insurance and Indemnity Law,  International and Travel Law, Public and Employers Liability and Industrial Disease

As former Tank Commander and Intelligence Officer in the British Army, he is also recognised as an established specialist Counsel in Armed Forces Claims.

Tom has also been instructed in High Court Defamation proceedings.

Alex Carington

Alex’s practice encompasses 12KBW’s core areas with particular focus on travel, serious personal injury, clinical negligence, fraudulent claims and inquests.

Alex is recognised as a leading junior in Legal500 in travel law as “punching well above his weight and is already an established specialist in Athens Conventions claims”.

His passion remains in all forms of advocacy work, alongside his paper practice.

Alex has good working knowledge of German having read Law and German Law at Exeter University before completing a Masters in German Law at Saarland University, Germany. He enjoys learning from different jurisdictions and is an Honorary Member of the Tampa Bar, Florida, after taking part in an exchange programme there.

In his spare time, Alex enjoys baking, triathlon and skiing. He is a trained Level 2 Triathlon Coach and qualified to represent Team GB at age group level in the 2021 World Championships in Bermuda and the 2021 European Championships in Valencia. Alex brings his personal knowledge of sports coaching and procedures to his sports law practice.

Charley Turton

Charley specialises in clinical negligence, abuse, and injury claims with an international element.

Her broader personal injury practice encompasses interests in sports law, motor insurance and military claims. She is also keen to grow her practise in inquests and inquiries.

Charley has been led by William Audland KC, Harry Steinberg KC, Patrick Vincent KC and Andrew Roy KC of 12KBW and regularly does work for other members of chambers in high value cases.

In addition to a busy paperwork practice, Charley is regularly in court for trials, PTRs, CCMCs, interim applications and approval hearings.

As a member of Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit), Charley is willing to act in a pro bono capacity, where appropriate.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Charley studied English Literature at Merton College, Oxford, and was awarded a Blue for football.

When she is not in chambers Charley plays for Camden Town Football Club and is a loyal participant in the annual Blenheim Palace Triathlon.

Charley is clerked by George Boggis (boggis@12kbw.co.uk) and Daniella Evans (evans@12kbw.co.uk).

Mary Newnham

Mary practises predominantly in personal injury and clinical negligence. She acts for both claimants and defendants in a wide range of multi-track cases.  Mary is regularly instructed in cases involving fatal accidents, brain injuries and serious and multiple injuries. She is also very familiar with cases where there is an interplay between physical and psychological injuries or a diagnosis of functional or somatoform disorders.  She is comfortable with cases involving multiple experts, causation problems and complex calculations of loss, whether they conclude at trial or at JSM.

Mary has substantial experience in road traffic litigation, including cases involving allegations of fraud and coverage/ indemnity issues. She also specialises in employers’ liability claims and public liability cases, often involving multiple defendants.

Mary’s clinical negligence practice includes cases where consideration is given to bringing additional claims for negligent medical treatment following an accident as well as free-standing claims against medical professionals for late diagnosis, negligent treatment or lack of informed consent.

Mary is regularly instructed to appear in the Coroner’s Court and has experience of substantial inquests involving juries, potential unlawful killing verdicts, deaths in the care of the state and cases where there is potential for a Preventing Future Deaths report.

Mary provides lectures and seminars to solicitors and insurers and can do so in-house.

Mary is currently living in Manchester and is happy to cover hearings in the North-West area.

Cressida Mawdesley-Thomas

Cressida specialises in all aspects of Personal Injury law. She has a thorough and collaborative approach and is recognised by The Legal 500 as a Rising Star who “has already amassed an extremely impressive caseload, far beyond that of many barristers much more senior”.

In disease litigation Cressida acts for Claimants suffering from mesothelioma, lung cancer, diffuse pleural thickening and asbestosis. She is also experienced in VWF/ HAVS claims. She regularly appears in the Masters’ corridor and is well versed in limitation arguments and complex issues of causation. As second junior in Mather v MOD she helped obtain a settlement of over £3 million for a former RAF painter & finisher who developed MS following exposure to organic solvents in breach of the COSHH Regulations.

Cressida has particular interest in equine claims brought under The Animals Act 1971.  She is currently junior counsel in a high value, complex CRPS claim following a military riding accident. Cressida is adept at drafting schedules of loss in cases involving the loss of a military career.

In clinical negligence Cressida has experience in a range of different cases, including delayed diagnosis, as well as unnecessary and negligent surgery. This compliments her coronial practice where she is instructed in inquests involving multiple expert jurisdictions. She successfully obtained a regulation 28 prevention of future death report in a case arising out of the police’s treatment of head injuries and questioned experts in pathology, neuropathology, and toxicology.

Cressida is adept at handling complex motor insurance indemnity points. She successfully acted as Junior Counsel for the Second Defendant in Covea Insurance Plc v Greenaway [2021] 3 WLUK 379, considering the meaning of the ‘stolen or unlawfully taken’ exception under s. 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Greenaway was the first case to practically consider how the domestic court is to interpret retained EU law under section 6(3) of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018. Unled she successfully acted for the Second Defendant in Kelec v (1) Kotwal (2) Nelson Insurance (HHJ Dight CBE, central London County Court, 18 August 2022). The case concerned the limits of a direct action under The European Communities (Rights against Insurers) Regulations 2002 (‘the 2002 Regulations’).

Cressida acts and advises in costs litigation, including detailed assessment hearings, where she is an effective advocate. She co-edits 12 King’s Bench Walk’s Costs blog with Deputy Costs Judge Andrew Roy.

Prior to coming to the Bar Cressida worked at a top American investment bank. She is highly numerate and drafts living and fatal schedules of loss beyond her year of call.

Marcus Dignum KC

Marcus is a specialist defendant catastrophic personal injury silk, who acts for most of the large insurers in the UK defending claims predominantly in the context of RTA and EL/PL work. He also defends clinical negligence claims.

He took Silk in 2020, having been recognised as a Tier 1 Junior in Chambers & Partners and a Leading Junior in The Legal 500 for many years. He is lauded for his “robust, realistic and very personal service.” He combines “intellectual rigour, a commercial approach and great charm” to good effect on high-value catastrophic injury cases.

For many years he has dealt with claims of the highest value and has extensive experience of claims involving the most serious head and spinal injuries where awards are made or settlements reached of several million pounds.

He has particular expertise in cases involving paralysis, amputation and brain injury, including subtle brain injury.

He is much sought after as a trial advocate and was recently instructed to defend one of the largest personal injury claims ever made (£33m) over the course of a 10 day trial in the High Court.

Oliver Rudd

Oliver has a wide-ranging practice with extensive experience in dealing with a range of cases from chronic pain and industrial disease litigation, to cases involving alleged defective products, professional negligence and exaggerated and fraudulent claims.

Oliver regularly acts for leading national and international insurers and is frequently instructed in advisory as well as costs matters.

Oliver acts for both claimants and defendants and has experience in representing a number of local authorities and Health Care Trusts. He has frequently been instructed in cases valued at over £1m.

Oliver’s areas of expertise include the following: –

• Complex orthopaedic and psychiatric injuries;
• Brain Injuries;
• Fraud and exaggerated claims [including use of surveillance evidence];
• Fatal Accidents;
• Pain disorders including “CPRS” Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, somatoform disorders, chronic pain and fibromyalgia;
• Injuries and damage arising from alleged defective products;
• Industrial disease;
• International injury cases;
• Costs.

Andrew Ward

Andrew is recommended in the Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 directories as a leading personal injury junior. He represents Claimants and Defendants in high value employer’s liability, public liability and RTA personal injury claims. He has extensive experience of traumatic brain injury, amputation, chronic pain conditions, functional neurological disorder, paralysis caused by spinal injury, fatal accident claims, issues of motor insurance policy coverage and fundamental dishonesty.

The Legal 500 (2023) says:

“Andrew is a very measured and persuasive advocate at court. He is never flustered, he is scrupulously polite and he is devastatingly effective. He knows his specialist area of the law backwards, he rarely pursues bad points and he is a very sensible opponent.”

Andrew is also a tenant at Exchange Chambers, Manchester.

Steven Snowden KC

Steven Snowden KC is recognised in the independent legal directories as one of the leading barristers in the country in his chosen areas of work. He is ranked in band 1 for personal injury and industrial disease in both the C&P and the L500 guides and also ranked for Public Inquiries and Inquests by the Legal 500.

Steven’s main areas of practice are high-value, complex or sensitive personal injury and industrial disease cases. His practice extends to associated clinical negligence and professional negligence work, Court of Protection, insurance, sports, group litigation and public inquiries. He works for claimants and for defendants.

Steven is a very experienced trial advocate and regularly deals with substantial and complex cases in court and in settlement meetings. His current caseload includes the liability and quantum aspects of head injuries, paraplegic and other serious spinal injury cases, amputations, psychiatric injuries and fatal claims. In disease work he deals with mesothelioma and other asbestos claims, and other occupational illness claims involving difficult issues of liability, causation or quantum. He represented the largest group of the infected and affected individuals and families (1,400+ core participants) in the Infected Blood Public Inquiry.  He is instructed in the professional footballers’ concussive injury claims. He is retained to represent patients and families in the Essex Mental Health Public Inquiry.

He was the elected Chair (2020 – 2022) of the Personal Injuries Bar Association, a member of the Bar Council (2020-2022), is a Director of BMIF (2022 to date) and has for many years been one of the authors of the Judicial College Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases.